title: Understanding the fiber tip thermal runaway present in 3 µm fluoride glass fiber lasers.
abstract: When the tip of a fluoride glass fiber is exposed to ambient air, water vapor reacts with the glass constituents, increasing the OH contaminants at the surface. These OH impurities then diffuse inside the glass according to Fick's laws. Laser radiation at around 3 µm is strongly absorbed by the OH contaminants, causing local heating of the fiber tip resulting in an increase of the diffusion process which ultimately leads to fiber tip destruction. We accurately model this phenomenon by combining the diffusion theory with a basic thermal equation. Experimental measurements are in agreement with the model predictions for a good range of operating conditions.
authors.affiliation: Center for Optics, Photonics and Lasers, Université Laval, Québec G1V 0A6, Canada. nicolascaroncan@gmail.com
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Caron
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bernier
authors.forename: Dominic
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Faucher
authors.forename: Réal
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Vallée
mesh_terms: D003198:Computer Simulation; D017076:Computer-Aided Design; D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D005336:Fiber Optic Technology / Q000295:instrumentation*; D005459:Fluorides / Q000737:chemistry*; D005898:Glass / Q000737:chemistry*; D006358:Hot Temperature; D007834:Lasers; D008956:Models, Chemical; D013814:Thermal Conductivity
chemical_list: D005459:Fluorides