Fiber laser

A solid-state laser whose gain medium is an optical fiber doped with rare-earth elements. Its long, narrow waveguide confines light and supports efficient amplification.

Rare-earth-doped fiber: An optical fiber whose glass core contains rare-earth ions that provide optical gain. Its dopant ions amplify the signal light in a fiber laser.
Optical fiber: A thin, flexible strand of transparent material that guides light along its length. The gain medium is itself a light-guiding fiber.
Laser cutting: A manufacturing process that uses a focused laser beam to cut material. High-power fiber lasers cut metals efficiently and are common in industrial systems.
Bulk laser: A laser whose gain medium is a macroscopic solid piece, such as a crystal or glass rod. Its separate bulk gain element contrasts with a fiber serving as both gain medium and waveguide.
Beam quality: A measure of how closely a laser beam approaches the propagation characteristics of an ideal Gaussian beam. Waveguide confinement often gives fiber lasers excellent beam quality.
Stimulated emission: The process in which an incoming photon prompts an excited atom or ion to emit a matching photon. It is the amplification process inside the doped fiber.
Rare-earth element: One of the elements in the lanthanide series, plus scandium and yttrium, with related chemical properties. Rare-earth ions such as ytterbium and erbium provide the gain.
Laser welding: A joining process that melts material at a focused laser-heated region. Fiber lasers deliver concentrated heat for fast, precise welds.
Disk laser: A solid-state laser that uses a thin disk-shaped gain medium cooled across its broad surfaces. Its thin-disk geometry is an alternative for managing heat at high power.
Thermal management: The control and removal of heat generated in a device or material during operation. The fiber's large surface-area-to-volume ratio aids heat removal.

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