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US 2020/0174184 A1Published application
Microheater comprising a rare earth-doped optical fiber
AssigneesThe Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois, Clemson University
InventorsPeter Dragic, John Ballato, Andrey Mironov, Courtney Kucera, Matthew Tuggle
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A microheater comprises an optical fiber including a rare earth-doped glass core surrounded by a glass cladding. The rare earth-doped glass core comprises a rare earth dopant at a concentration sufficient for luminescence quenching such that, when the rare earth dopant is pumped with light at an absorption band wavelength, at least about 90% of absorbed pump light is converted into heat.
Claims20
A microheater comprising:
- an optical fiber comprising a rare earth-doped glass core surrounded by a glass cladding, the rare earth-doped glass core comprising a rare earth dopant at a concentration sufficient for luminescence quenching such that, when the rare earth dopant is pumped with light at an absorption band wavelength, at least about 90% of absorbed pump light is converted into heat.
A method of heating, the method comprising:
- providing a microheater comprising an optical fiber having a rare earth-doped glass core surrounded by a glass cladding, the rare earth-doped glass core comprising a rare earth dopant,
- pumping the rare earth dopant with light at an absorption band wavelength,
- wherein at least about 90% of absorbed pump light is converted into heat, a concentration of the rare earth dopant in the rare earth-doped glass core being sufficient to quench luminescence.
A method of making a microheater, the method comprising:
- inserting a solid material comprising a rare earth species into a glass tube;
- after inserting the solid material, heating the glass tube to a drawing temperature such that the rare earth species interacts with one or more components of the glass tube;
- drawing the glass tube to obtain a reduced-diameter glass fiber;
- and
- cooling the reduced-diameter glass fiber, thereby forming a microheater comprising an optical fiber having a rare earth-doped glass core surrounded by a glass cladding.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.