Optical fiber with absorbing overclad glass layer
AssigneeCorning Incorporated
InventorsAdam J.G. Ellison, John D. Minelly, Jackson P. Trentelman
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Abstract
The disclosed invention includes an amplifier fiber and methods of making the amplifier fiber. One embodiment of the inventive fiber includes a glass core and a glass cladding layer surrounding the glass core. The cladding glass layer has a refractive index which is less than a refractive index of the glass core. The fiber also includes a glass overclad layer surrounding the cladding layer. The overclad layer has a refractive index which is greater than the refractive index of the cladding layer. In another embodiment of the inventive fiber, the overclad layer is doped with an absorber. The absorber strips a mode of light propagating in the cladding from the cladding layer.
Claims22
An amplifier fiber comprising:
- a glass core;
- a glass cladding layer surrounding said glass core and having a refractive index which is less than a refractive index of said glass core, and
- an absorbing glass overclad layer surrounding said cladding layer to substantially eliminate a cladding mode of light propagating in said cladding layer, said absorbing glass overclad layer having a refractive index which is greater than said refractive index of said cladding layer, and wherein said absorbing glass overclad layer has an inside radius at least three core radii from the central axis of said amplifier fiber and which absorbing glass overclad layer is disposed on at least the outer most 10 μm of said amplifier fiber.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.