Fiber Beam Shaping Using In-Fiber Perturbation and Confinement
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current fiber-coupled laser systems require complex and costly add-on mechanisms, such as free-space optics, to adjust beam characteristics, leading to increased cost, complexity, and reliability issues, as they lack an in-fiber solution for varying beam characteristics without these extra components.
Innovation Solution
The method involves perturbing an optical beam within a first length of fiber to adjust beam characteristics, which are then maintained and modified in a second length of fiber with specific refractive index profiles and confinement regions, allowing for adjustable beam parameters like spot size, divergence, and intensity distribution without relying on free-space optics.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If free-space optics or complex add-on mechanisms are used to adjust beam characteristics, then beam characteristics can be varied, but cost, device complexity, and reliability deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the beam adjustment function from external free-space optics and relocates it directly into the fiber optic system. By modifying the fiber's refractive index profile and introducing perturbation mechanisms within the fiber itself, the system eliminates the need for separate adjustment components while maintaining beam characteristic variability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent embeds multiple functional layers within the fiber structure, including a core region, perturbation region, and confinement region, all nested within a single fiber optic component. This nested architecture allows complex beam adjustment functionality to be contained within a compact, integrated structure rather than requiring multiple external components.
2Adaptability or versatility
If free-space optics or complex add-on mechanisms are used to adjust beam characteristics, then beam characteristics can be varied, but cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple functions (beam delivery, beam adjustment, and beam confinement) into a single integrated fiber optic component. By merging the adjustment mechanism directly into the fiber structure through refractive index modifications, the system reduces the total component count and eliminates the need for expensive free-space optics assemblies.
3Adaptability or versatility
If free-space optics or complex add-on mechanisms are used to adjust beam characteristics, then beam characteristics can be varied, but reliability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes vulnerable external adjustment components (free-space optics, motorized lenses, mirrors) from the system and replaces them with an intrinsic fiber-based adjustment mechanism. This extraction of external components eliminates failure points associated with mechanical adjustments while maintaining the desired adaptability.
4Device complexity
If fixed beam characteristics are used, then system simplicity is maintained, but adaptability to different processing tasks deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces dynamic adjustability into the fiber optic system by enabling modification of the refractive index profile and beam characteristics through controlled perturbations. This allows the system to adapt its beam parameters (spot size, divergence, intensity distribution) to match different processing requirements while maintaining the simplicity of a fiber-based architecture.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach enables flexible and efficient adjustment of beam characteristics within the fiber itself, reducing costs and complexity while maintaining optimal performance and reliability by confining and modifying the beam within the fiber structure.
Implementation Method 1
perturbing the first length of fiber or the optical beam in the first length of fiber... by bending the first length of fiber to alter a bend radius... such that one or more modes of the optical beam are displaced radially with respect to a longitudinal axis
Implementation Method 2
coupling the perturbed optical beam into a second length of fiber and maintaining at least a portion of one or more adjusted beam characteristics within a second length of fiber having one or more confinement regions
Implementation Method 3
The second length of fiber has an RIP that defines a first confinement region and a second confinement region... The adjusted one or more beam characteristics are produced by confining the optical beam in the two or more confinement regions
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed herein are methods, apparatus, and systems for providing an optical beam delivery system, comprising an optical fiber including a first length of fiber comprising a first RIP formed to enable, at least in part, modification of one or more beam characteristics of an optical beam by a perturbation assembly arranged to modify the one or more beam characteristics, the perturbation assembly coupled to the first length of fiber or integral with the first length of fiber, or a combination thereof and a second length of fiber coupled to the first length of fiber and having a second RIP formed to preserve at least a portion of the one or more beam characteristics of the optical beam modified by the perturbation assembly within one or more first confinement regions. The optical beam delivery system may include an optical system coupled to the second length of fiber including one or more free-space optics configured to receive and transmit an optical beam comprising the modified one or more beam characteristics.