title: Performances of a polymer-cholesteric-liquidcrystal output-coupler in Nd-doped fiber lasers.
abstract: The performances and characteristics of a polymer-cholestericliquid-crystal reflector, used as an output coupler in a Nd-doped fiber laser, are presented. We show that a judicious combination of a linear polarizer and a quarter wave plate with the cholesteric coupler allows for a continuous scanning of the output-intensity from zero to a maximum value following the well-known Malus law. The results are shown to be contained in a simple Jones Matrix formalism. The LP-QW-PCLC combination is characterized by a reflection coefficient that can be freely adjusted from 0 to 1 by a simple rotation of the quarter-wave plate.
authors.forename: Belkacem
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Meziane
authors.forename: Chuin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Pierre
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Carette
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Warenghem
authors.forename: Michel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mitov