High power faraday isolators and rotators using potassium terbium fluoride crystals

Abstract

A high power Faraday isolator or rotator includes, at least one Faraday optical element, and a magnetic structure capable of generating a magnetic field within the at least one Faraday optical element. The at least one Faraday optical element comprises a Potassium Terbium Fluoride (KTF) crystal grown or manufactured along the [113] crystal orientation and which is oriented such that the light propagating through the Faraday isolator is within 2 degrees of the [113] crystal orientation.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to high power Faraday isolators and rotators, and, more particularly, to isolators and rotators with Potassium Terbium Fluoride crystals.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

It is known to use Potassium Terbium Fluoride crystals grown along the [111] or crystal orientations in Faraday rotators and isolators in laser applications exceeding 100 W.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a high power Faraday isolator or rotator. The isolator or rotator includes at least one Faraday optical element and a magnetic structure capable of generating a magnetic field within the Faraday optical element. The Faraday optical element includes a Potassium Terbium Fluoride (KTF) crystal, a face centered cubic crystal, grown or manufactured along the [113] crystal orientation and which is oriented such that the light propagating through the Faraday isolator is within 2 degrees of the [113] crystal orientation. The Faraday optical element may consist of a single rod or a plurality of thin discs. Each disc may rotate light a proportionate amount such that after passing through each disc the light is rotated a total of 45 degrees. The crystal may not exhibit thermal birefringence or radial stress birefringence. The crystal may be insensitive to radial mounting stresses or insensitive to radial growth and fabrication stresses.

In another aspect of the invention, a method for growing or manufacturing a crystal for a high power Faraday isolator or rotator is provided. The method includes growing a KTF crystal along the [113] crystal orientation.

These and other objects, advantages, purposes and features of the present invention will become apparent upon review of the following specification in conjunction with the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a crystal with a face in a [113] orientation;

FIG. 2 is a schematic of a Faraday rotator with a KTF crystal having a face in the orientation, in accordance with the present invention; and

FIG. 3 is a schematic of another Faraday rotator with multiple KTF crystals having a face in the [113] orientation, in accordance with the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Optical isolators are routinely used to decouple a laser oscillator from downstream laser amplifier noise radiation and/or target reflections. Optical isolators are typically comprised of a Faraday rotator surrounded by polarizers that are aligned with the input and output linear polarization states. A Faraday rotator is typically comprised of a non-reciprocal, optical element in a strong magnetic field that is co-axially aligned with the laser radiation so that the plane of polarization is rotated by 45 degrees. In an optical isolator, the non-reciprocal nature of the Faraday effect causes the plane of linear polarization in the backward propagating direction to be rotated an additional 45 degrees resulting in a polarization state which is 90 degrees to the transmission axis of the input polarizer. This results in reverse propagating radiation to experience high transmission losses while allowing forward propagating radiation to experience low transmission losses.

Potassium Terbium Fluoride (KTF) crystals grown along the [111] or [100] crystal orientations (Miller indices, or a family of lattice planes determined by three integers) have been shown to be acceptable choices for use in Faraday rotators and isolators in laser applications exceeding 100 W. Unfortunately, these crystals still exhibit thermal birefringence and radial stress birefringence. Thermal birefringence reduces the crystals extinction as a function of laser power and limits the performance of single stage Faraday isolators to 30 dB at powers greater than 200 W. Further, KTF crystals grown along these orientations are sensitive to radially oriented mounting stresses which can limit their usefulness. Finally, KTF crystals grown along the [111] and [100] directions can be sensitive to radial growth and fabrication stresses which can limit part yield—particularly for large diameter boules (single crystal ingots produced by synthetic means) or clear aperture parts.

The present invention relates to the growth or manufacturing of KTF crystals along a [113] crystal orientation. FIG. 1 provides an example of a crystal in the [113] orientation, perpendicular to the (113) plane (among others). This highly atypical alignment of the crystal growth direction is based on the evaluation of KTF's negative stress-optic anisotropy ratio in the near infrared region and yields crystals that do not exhibit thermal birefringence or radial stress birefringence or, at most, exhibit minimal thermal birefringence or radial stress birefringence. In addition, KTF crystals grown or manufactured along the [113] crystal orientation are substantially insensitive or minimally sensitive to radial mounting stresses as well as radial growth and fabrication stresses increasing their usefulness and cost in practical devices—particularly of very large aperture. As shown in FIG. 2, a high power Faraday isolator or rotator 10 includes input polarizer 12, where light initially enters. The polarized light that exits the input polarizer enters a [113] KTF crystal 14. The polarized light that exits the input polarizer enters a [113] KTF crystal 14 well aligned (e.g. within 2 degrees) along the [113] orientation or axis. The crystal 14 is housed within magnet assembly 16 and the light is rotated (with the degree of rotation determined or established by selecting an appropriate length of the crystal or selecting an appropriate magnetic field strength), such that light exiting the crystal is rotated 45 degrees. The light then passes through output polarizer 18 to polarize the light exiting the isolator or rotator.

In another aspect of the invention, instead of a single [113] KTF crystal piece or rod, as shown in FIG. 2, the [113] KTF crystal may instead comprise of a series of thin discs, aligned along the [113] axis, as shown in FIG. 3. As light passes through each disc, the light will be rotated (by an amount determined by the length of the respective disc and magnetic field strength) such that light exiting the series of thin disks is rotated 45 degrees. For example, if the total desired rotation is 45 degrees and there are six KTF crystal discs, each disc will rotate the light 45/6 degrees, or 7.5 degrees. It is understood that this is a mere example, and any number of discs can be used to achieve any desired rotation angle. Thus, as shown in FIG. 3, a Faraday isolator or rotator 110 includes input polarizer 112. Light enters through input polarizer 112 and then the polarized light enters a series of [113] KTF discs 114, housed within the magnet assembly 116. The rotated light then enters output polarizer 118 and polarized light exits the isolator. The use of thin discs of [113] KTF crystal provides the advantage of spreading the heat generated by KTF absorption over a larger area, thereby simplifying heat management within the assembly.

The crystal of the present invention is suitable for use in various Faraday isolator or rotator devices, such as high power Faraday isolator or rotator devices or the like. The crystal may be implemented in various devices such as by utilizing aspects of the devices and systems described in U.S. Publication Nos. US-2015-0124318; US-2014-0218795 and/or US-2014-0139911, and/or U.S. Pat. Nos. 9,268,159; 8,547,636 and/or 7,426,325, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

Changes and modifications in the specifically described embodiments can be carried out without departing from the principles of the invention, which is intended to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims, as interpreted according to the principles of patent law including the doctrine of equivalents.

Claims

1. A high power Faraday isolator or rotator comprising: at least one Faraday optical element;a magnetic structure capable of generating a magnetic field within said at least one Faraday optical element; andwherein said at least one Faraday optical element comprises a Potassium Terbium Fluoride (KTF) crystal grown or manufactured along the [113] crystal orientation and oriented such that light propagating through the high power Faraday isolator or rotator is within 2 degrees of the [113] crystal orientation.

2. The isolator or rotator of claim 1, wherein the at least one Faraday optical element comprises a single Faraday optical element.

3. The isolator or rotator of claim 1, wherein the at least one Faraday optical element comprises a plurality of Faraday optical elements.

4. The isolator or rotator of claim 3, wherein the plurality of Faraday optical elements comprises a plurality of discs.

5. The isolator or rotator of claim 4, wherein the plurality of Faraday optical elements comprises six discs.

6. The isolator or rotator of claim 5, wherein each disc rotates light 7.5 degrees for a total of 45 degrees of rotation after light passes through all six discs.

7. The isolator or rotator of claim 1, wherein said KTF crystal does not exhibit thermal birefringence.

8. The isolator or rotator of claim 1, wherein said KTF crystal does not exhibit radial stress birefringence.

9. The isolator or rotator of claim 1, wherein said KTF crystal is insensitive to radial mounting stresses.

10. The isolator or rotator of claim 1, wherein said KTF crystal is insensitive to radial growth and fabrication stresses.

11. A method for growing or manufacturing a crystal for a high power Faraday isolator or rotator, said method comprising: Growing or manufacturing a Potassium Terbium Fluoride (KTF) crystal along the [113] crystal orientation.

12. The method of claim 11, comprising creating a Faraday optical element from the grown or manufactured KTF crystal.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the Faraday optical element comprises a rod of [113] KTF crystal created from the grown or manufactured KTF crystal.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the Faraday optical element comprises a plurality of [113] KTF crystal discs created from the grown or manufactured KTF crystal.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the plurality of [113] KTF discs comprises six KTF discs.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein each disc rotates light 7.5 degrees for a total of 45 degrees of rotation after light passes through all six [113] KTF discs.