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Office of Scientific and Technical Information
 

Segregation of Chromium and Titanium in Sapphire Optical Fiber Grown via the Laser-Heated Pedestal Growth Technique

Conference ·
OSTI ID:2557467
 [1];  [1];  [2];  [3];  [4]
  1. NETL Site Support Contractor, National Energy Technology Laboratory
  2. National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL)
  3. University of Pittsburgh
  4. NETL
+ Show Author Affiliations
Our research involves growth of single crystal (SC) optical fibers to be used for sensing applications in harsh environments. Silica optical fibers are an affordable and reliable option for a wide variety of applications including optical fiber sensors and fiber lasers. However, for applications in harsh environments, such as high temperatures, radioactivity, corrosivity, etc., silica fibers are not suitable due to their instability under such conditions. Fibers composed of SC materials such as sapphire and YAG are mechanically, chemically, and thermally more robust to harsh conditions, and thus are more appropriate for sensing applications in environments such as nuclear reactors, jet engines, and boiler. However, SC fibers grown via the laser-heated pedestal growth (LHPG) technique do not intrinsically have a functional cladding layer. A cladding layer is required to reduce the modal volume for distributed sensing applications, to reduce frustrated total internal reflection induced by surface contact of the fiber in certain applications, and to improve transmissivity. Our lab investigates introduction of dopant materials during LHPG to induce an effective core-cladding structure while maintain the crystallinity of the host material. This process results in optical fiber that is not only robust to harsh environments, but also has improved optical properties for distributed sensor applications.
Research Organization:
National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), Pittsburgh, PA, Morgantown, WV, and Albany, OR (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM); USDOE Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM), Office of Carbon Management (FE-20)
OSTI ID:
2557467
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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distributed sensing
dopant segregation
laser-heated pedestal growth
optical fiber
single crystal