An improved method for stripping cladding light in high power fiber lasers

In order to ensure the high power all-fiber laser reliability and excellent beam quality, it is necessary to strip the unwanted cladding light. The common method for stripping cladding light is to recoat the double cladding fiber with a high index gel, but localized heating and low thermal conductivity of the recoating gel are the prime factors limiting the power-handling capability of the cladding power stripper(CPS). An improved fabrication technique to manufacture the CPS is presented. Light stripping section of the fiber is fused with a transparent quartz tube, by applying different amount of etchant along the quartz tube, frosted surface is created and uniformly removal of the cladding light is achieved. The quartz tube is joined to water-cooled thermal enclosure tightly without the gel to avoid heat aggregation. The power-handling capability of the device is tested under 200W of cladding light, and attenuation of 20 dB is achieved.