Transmission characteristics of high-power 589-nm laser beam in photonic crystal fiber

We are developing Laser Guide Star Adaptive Optics (LGSAO) system for Subaru Telescope at Hawaii, Mauna Kea. We achieved an all-solid-state 589.159 nm laser in sum-frequency generation. Output power at 589.159 nm reached 4W in quasi-continuous-wave operation. To relay the laser beam from laser location to laser launching telescope, we used an optical fiber because the optical fiber relay is more flexible and easier than mirror train. However, nonlinear scattering effect, especially stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) and stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS), will happen when the inputted laser power increases, i.e., intensity at the fiber core exceed each threshold. In order to raise the threshold levels of each nonlinear scattering, we adopt photonic crystal fiber (PCF). Because the PCF can be made larger core than usual step index fiber (SIF), one can reduce the intensity in the core. We inputted the high power laser into the PCF whose mode field diameter (MFD) is 14 μm and the SIF whose MFD is 5 μm, and measured the transmission characteristics of them. In the case of the SIF, the SRS was happen when we inputted 2 W. On the other hand, the SRS and the SBS were not induced in the PCF even for an input power of 4 W. We also investigated polarization of the laser beam transmitting through the PCF. Because of the fact that the backscattering efficiency of exciting the sodium layer with a narrowband laser is dependent on the polarization state of the incident beam, we tried to control the polarization of the laser beam transmitted the PCF. We constructed the system which can control the polarization of input laser and measure the output polarization. The PCF showed to be able to assume as a double refraction optical device, and we found that the output polarization is controllable by injecting beam with appropriate polarization through the PCF. However, the Laser Guide Star made by the beam passed through the PCF had same brightness as the state of the polarization.