16 kW Yb fiber amplifier using chirped seed amplification for stimulated Brillouin scattering suppression

Abstract

In a high power fiber amplifier, a frequency-chirped seed interrupts the coherent interaction between the laser and Stokes waves, raising the threshold for stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS). Moving the external mirror of a vertical cavity surface-emitting diode laser 0.2 mum in 10 mus can yield a frequency chirp of 5x1017 Hz/s at a nearly constant output power. Opto-electronic feedback loops can linearize the chirp, and stabilize the output power. The linear variation of phase with time allows multiple amplifiers to be coherently combined using a frequency shifter to compensate for static and dynamic path length differences. The seed bandwidth, as seen by the counter-propagating SBS, also increases linearly with fiber length, resulting in a nearly-length-independent SBS threshold. Experimental results at the 1.6 kW level with a 19 m delivery fiber are presented. A numerical simulation is also presented.