From 2012-2015, I worked on this project to “develop a new and novel class of potentially high-energy optical fibers to be used to transmit mid-infrared laser light and serve as a new laser gain media based on crystalline materials rather than the conventional glass fiber structure.”
Project: “Optical Characterization of Single-Crystal Optical Fibers”
Collaborators: Dr. Harrington of Rutgers University, Dr. E. Johnson of Clemson University
My Objective: To optically characterize single crystal optical fibers through the use of optical fluorescence and up-conversion techniques
Some of my completed tasks:
- Created an experimental set-up using a pump laser to excite the fiber dopants and then image the resultant dopant fluorescence using a basic magnification system and a CCD
- Developed an unique crystal fiber preparation technique that allows precision imaging of the fiber dopant cross-sections without excess fluorescence and scattering
- Polished single crystal optical fiber samples
- Analyzed dopant concentrations and took spectra of various fiber samples
I also mentored 5 undergraduate and 1 graduate students who worked on this project.
Other Background:
The purpose of this project is to develop optical fibers that can transmit mid-infrared (2 – 5 μm) laser light. 2 – 5 micron light is important for environmental monitoring, chemical sensing, laser machining, and medical applications in surgery. However, current optical fibers use silica-glass, which has very poor transmittance in this range even when optimized for this range. They are very lossy and have many transmission valleys as shown below.
Thus, we need to use a material other than glass: ceramics. Single-crystal ceramics have high-thermal conductivity, are non-toxic, and offer the prospect of cheap synthesis and greatly improved transmission compared to silica in the mid-infrared.
Elizabeth F. C. Dreyer 