ZBLAN

About: ZBLAN is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 1202 publications have been published within this topic receiving 20306 citations. The topic is also known as: ZBLAN glass.

Writing waveguides in glass with a femtosecond laser

Abstract: With the goal of being able to create optical devices for the telecommunications industry, we investigated the effects of 810-nm, femtosecond laser radiation on various glasses. By focusing the laser beam through a microscope objective, we successfully wrote transparent, but visible, round-elliptical damage lines inside high-silica, borate, soda lime silicate, and fluorozirconate (ZBLAN) bulk glasses. Microellipsometer measurements of the damaged region in the pure and Ge-doped silica glasses showed a 0.01–0.035 refractive-index increase, depending on the radiation dose. The formation of several defects, including Si E′ or Ge E′ centers, nonbridging oxygen hole centers, and peroxy radicals, was also detected. These results suggest that multiphoton interactions occur in the glasses and that it may be possible to write three-dimensional optical circuits in bulk glasses with such a focused laser beam technique.

High-power ZBLAN glass fiber lasers: Review and prospect

Abstract: ZBLAN (ZrF4-BaF2-LaF3-AlF3-NaF), considered as the most stable heavy metal fluoride glass and the excellent host for rare-earth ions, has been extensively used for efficient and compact ultraviolet, visible, and infrared fiber lasers due to its low intrinsic loss, wide transparency window, and small phonon energy. In this paper, the historical progress and the properties of fluoride glasses and the fabrication of ZBLAN fibers are briefly described. Advances of infrared, upconversion, and supercontinuum ZBLAN fiber lasers are addressed in detail. Finally, constraints on the power scaling of ZBLAN fiber lasers are analyzed and discussed. ZBLAN fiber lasers are showing promise of generating high-power emissions covering from ultraviolet to mid-infrared considering the recent advances in newly designed optical fibers, beam-shaped high-power pump diodes, beam combining techniques, and heat-dissipating technology.

Black phosphorus as saturable absorber for the Q-switched Er:ZBLAN fiber laser at 2.8 μm.

Abstract: Black phosphorus, a newly emerged two-dimensional material, has attracted wide attention as novel photonic material. Here, multilayer black phosphorus is successfully fabricated by liquid phase exfoliation method. By employing black phosphorus as saturable absorber, we demonstrate a passively Q-switched Er-doped ZBLAN fiber laser at the wavelength of 2.8 μm. The modulation depth and saturation fluence of the black phosphorus saturable absorber are measured to be 15% and 9 μJ/cm(2), respectively. The Q-switched fiber laser delivers a maximum average power of 485 mW with corresponding pulse energy of 7.7 μJ and pulse width of 1.18 μs at repetition rate of 63 kHz. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time to demonstrate that black phosphorus can realize Q-switching of 2.8-μm fiber laser. Our research results show that black phosphorus is a promising saturable absorber for mid-infrared pulsed lasers.

Mid-infrared supercontinuum generation to 4.5 μm in ZBLAN fluoride fibers by nanosecond diode pumping

Abstract: A mid-infrared supercontinuum (SC) is generated in ZBLAN (ZrF4-BaF2-LaF3-AlF3-NaF...) fluoride fibers from amplified nanosecond laser diode pulses with a continuous spectrum from approximately 0.8 microm to beyond 4.5 microm. The SC has an average power of approximately 23 mW, a pump-to-SC power conversion efficiency exceeding 50%, and a spectral power density of approximately -20 dBm/nm over a large fraction of the spectrum. The SC generation is initiated by the breakup of nanosecond laser diode pulses into femtosecond pulses through modulation instability, and the spectrum is then broadened primarily through fiber nonlinearities in approximately 2-7 m lengths of ZBLAN fiber. The SC long-wavelength edge is consistent with the intrinsic ZBLAN material absorption.

Liquid-cooled 24 W mid-infrared Er:ZBLAN fiber laser

Abstract: A 24 W liquid-cooled CW 3 microm fiber laser with a multimode-core Er-doped ZBLAN fiber has been developed. The output power of 24 W and an optical-to-optical efficiency of 14.5% (with respect to incident pump power) were obtained with 975 nm diode pumping. Efficient cooling was implemented by a combination of fluid cooling over the entire length of the fiber and conductive cooling at both end faces of the fiber. Consequently, stable high-power operation was demonstrated. To our knowledge, this is the highest output power obtained by a 3 microm fiber laser. Furthermore, the high power can be further scaled up, since the output power in the present work is limited only by the available pump power.