NKT Photonics changes the game in the ultra-fast fiber laser market with new aeroGAIN-ROD ytterbium fibers

NKT Photonics, the pioneer of photonic crystal fibers, is proud to announce the new aeroGAIN-ROD fibers - a new generation of ytterbium gain fibers designed specifically for the ultra-fast fiber laser market. They offer the highest peak power capability in the industry while keeping a diffraction-limited beam quality and robust coupling. The unique performance makes them ideal gain media for the next generation of high-power ultra-fast fiber lasers for use in semiconductor applications, materials processing and imaging.

"The aeroGAIN rod fibers are the result of several years of development and draw on everything we have learned as the leading supplier of large-core single mode fibers" says Christian Vestergaard Poulsen, CTO of NKT Photonics and adds "The result is performance above and beyond anything we, or anyone else, have ever done in ytterbium fibers and we believe this will lead to a paradigm shift in the ultra-fast fiber laser market".

Fiber lasers have long been displacing solid state and gas lasers in the continuous wave and slow pulse segments but the fiber revolution now moves towards ultra fast systems in the picosecond and femtosecond regime. However, the output power of ultra-fast fiber lasers has typically been limited to a few Watts due to nonlinear effects. Bigger cores and shorter fiber are traditionally the go-to solutions but often with compromises in mode quality and stability to follow. Not anymore.

Utilizing the latest PCF technology, the new aeroGAIN-ROD fibers offer rock solid performance and they can handle peak power in the mega Watt regime while keeping a diffraction-limited beam quality. Moreover, they offer a much larger gain bandwidth compared to solid state solutions, offering an ideal solution for direct processing at 1μm or for further frequency conversion.

The aeroGAIN-ROD is available with 55 or 85 μm polarization-maintaining core and each model is available in a Standard and a Power version designed for different power levels.

The aeroGAIN line of fibers, rods and amplifier modules is already being used by several of the leading laser manufactures in the industry and is on display at the NKT Photonics booth no. 417 at Photonics West 2013 in San Francisco, taking place 2-7 February 2013.