Fused Fiber Polarization Combiners, 2 PM Ports to 1 SM Port
- Combine Orthogonal Polarizations
- Center Wavelength: 980 nm, 1064 nm, or 1550 nm
- Designed for Doubling Pump Power to Optical Amplifiers
- Unterminated, FC/PC, or FC/APC Outputs
Combine Orthogonal,
Linearly Polarized Light
PFC980HB
Polarization Combiner,
980 nm, No Connectors
PFC1550HA
Polarization Combiner,
1550 nm, FC/APC Connectors
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Click to Enlarge
This diagram shows the proper alignment of a
2x1 PM to SM fused fiber polarization combiner.
Click for Details
Each PFC device is engraved with the item #, serial number, and key specifications for easy identification. The unterminated devices specify the axis of the fiber (fast or slow) along which light should propagate in that port. The devices with connectors additionally indicate the alignment of the key with that axis.
Features
- Fused Fiber Polarization Combiners
- Center Wavelength of 980 nm, 1064 nm, or 1550 nm
- Two PM Input Ports and One SM Output Port
- Includes Unterminated Fiber Leads or 2.0 mm Narrow Key FC/PC or FC/APC Connectors
- Individual Test Report Available for Each Combiner; Click Here for a Sample Test Report
- Contact Us for Custom Wavelength and Connector Options
Thorlabs' Fused Fiber Polarization Combiners with two PM input ports and one SM output port are designed to combine two orthogonal polarizations into a single fiber. These devices operate entirely through fiber; the polarization states are combined through a fused fiber junction. The all-fiber construction enables higher transmission and higher power handling compared to a calcite prism-based polarization beam combiner. The polarization-maintaining fiber in a fused polarization combiner does not act as a polarizer, so the input must be linearly polarized and aligned with the fast or slow axes of each fiber, as shown in the diagram to the right. These devices are ideal for combining the light from two pump lasers into a single fiber to increase the input to an erbium-doped or Raman fiber amplifier.
The orientations of the fiber polarization axes combine two slow-axis-aligned sources into a single mode output. Assuming both sources are identical, this effectively doubles the power of the output compared to a single input. For more information on aligning the polarization axes with the orientation of the stress rods in the fiber, see the diagram to the right. In this diagram, a combiner with connectors is shown. Linearly polarized input light should be aligned to the connector key for each PM leg of the polarization combiner. This will couple light into the white port's slow axis and the red port's fast axis, allowing the fused junction to combine them. Each device is engraved with the alignments of each port, as can be seen in the image to the lower right.
Thorlabs' fused fiber polarization combiners provide a wide -40 °C to 85 °C operating range. The maximum power for these combiners is 1 W with connectors or bare fiber, or 5 W when spliced; please view the tables below for additional specifications. These devices undergo extensive testing; the results are included in a test report available for each device. A sample test report for the combiners can be viewed here.
Custom and OEM Fiber Combiners
Our combiners are produced on-site in our North American manufacturing facilities and our design team is able to deliver custom solutions in as little as three weeks. Custom combiner configurations with other wavelengths, fiber types, alignment axes, port configurations, or housing options are available, and each custom combiner includes an individualized test report. Please contact Tech Sales for inquiries or to discuss your application.
These devices are available unterminated or with 2.0 mm narrow key FC/PC or FC/APC connectors, as outlined in the table below. Fiber leads are jacketed in Ø900 µm Hytrel®* tubing and the leads are 0.8 m long.
*Hytrel® is a registered trademark of DuPont Polymers, Inc.
Fiber Polarization Combiner / Splitter Selection Guide | ||||
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Fused Fiber | In-Line Micro Prism | Free-Space Polarization Beamsplitter Kits |
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2 PM Ports, 1 SM Port | 3 PM Ports | 1 SM Port, 2 PM Ports | 3 PM Ports | 3 FiberPorts |
Higher Power Handling and Higher Transmission | Bi-Directional, Polarizing, Larger Bandwidth | Can be Used with Multiple Fiber Types |
Quick Links |
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Damage at the Air / Glass Interface |
Intrinsic Damage Threshold |
Preparation and Handling of Optical Fibers |
Laser-Induced Damage in Silica Optical Fibers
The following tutorial details damage mechanisms relevant to unterminated (bare) fiber, terminated optical fiber, and other fiber components from laser light sources. These mechanisms include damage that occurs at the air / glass interface (when free-space coupling or when using connectors) and in the optical fiber itself. A fiber component, such as a bare fiber, patch cable, or fused coupler, may have multiple potential avenues for damage (e.g., connectors, fiber end faces, and the device itself). The maximum power that a fiber can handle will always be limited by the lowest limit of any of these damage mechanisms.
While the damage threshold can be estimated using scaling relations and general rules, absolute damage thresholds in optical fibers are very application dependent and user specific. Users can use this guide to estimate a safe power level that minimizes the risk of damage. Following all appropriate preparation and handling guidelines, users should be able to operate a fiber component up to the specified maximum power level; if no maximum is specified for a component, users should abide by the "practical safe level" described below for safe operation of the component. Factors that can reduce power handling and cause damage to a fiber component include, but are not limited to, misalignment during fiber coupling, contamination of the fiber end face, or imperfections in the fiber itself. For further discussion about an optical fiber’s power handling abilities for a specific application, please contact Thorlabs’ Tech Support.
Click to Enlarge
Undamaged Fiber End
Click to Enlarge
Damaged Fiber End
Damage at the Air / Glass Interface
There are several potential damage mechanisms that can occur at the air / glass interface. Light is incident on this interface when free-space coupling or when two fibers are mated using optical connectors. High-intensity light can damage the end face leading to reduced power handling and permanent damage to the fiber. For fibers terminated with optical connectors where the connectors are fixed to the fiber ends using epoxy, the heat generated by high-intensity light can burn the epoxy and leave residues on the fiber facet directly in the beam path.
Estimated Optical Power Densities on Air / Glass Interfacea | ||
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Type | Theoretical Damage Thresholdb | Practical Safe Levelc |
CW (Average Power) |
~1 MW/cm2 | ~250 kW/cm2 |
10 ns Pulsed (Peak Power) |
~5 GW/cm2 | ~1 GW/cm2 |
Damage Mechanisms on the Bare Fiber End Face
Damage mechanisms on a fiber end face can be modeled similarly to bulk optics, and industry-standard damage thresholds for UV Fused Silica substrates can be applied to silica-based fiber. However, unlike bulk optics, the relevant surface areas and beam diameters involved at the air / glass interface of an optical fiber are very small, particularly for coupling into single mode (SM) fiber. therefore, for a given power density, the power incident on the fiber needs to be lower for a smaller beam diameter.
The table to the right lists two thresholds for optical power densities: a theoretical damage threshold and a "practical safe level". In general, the theoretical damage threshold represents the estimated maximum power density that can be incident on the fiber end face without risking damage with very good fiber end face and coupling conditions. The "practical safe level" power density represents minimal risk of fiber damage. Operating a fiber or component beyond the practical safe level is possible, but users must follow the appropriate handling instructions and verify performance at low powers prior to use.
Calculating the Effective Area for Single Mode Fibers
The effective area for single mode (SM) fiber is defined by the mode field diameter (MFD), which is the cross-sectional area through which light propagates in the fiber; this area includes the fiber core and also a portion of the cladding. To achieve good efficiency when coupling into a single mode fiber, the diameter of the input beam must match the MFD of the fiber.
As an example, SM400 single mode fiber has a mode field diameter (MFD) of ~Ø3 µm operating at 400 nm, while the MFD for SMF-28 Ultra single mode fiber operating at 1550 nm is Ø10.5 µm. The effective area for these fibers can be calculated as follows:
SM400 Fiber: Area = Pi x (MFD/2)2 = Pi x (1.5 µm)2 = 7.07 µm2 = 7.07 x 10-8 cm2
SMF-28 Ultra Fiber: Area = Pi x (MFD/2)2 = Pi x (5.25 µm)2 = 86.6 µm2 = 8.66 x 10-7 cm2
To estimate the power level that a fiber facet can handle, the power density is multiplied by the effective area. Please note that this calculation assumes a uniform intensity profile, but most laser beams exhibit a Gaussian-like shape within single mode fiber, resulting in a higher power density at the center of the beam compared to the edges. Therefore, these calculations will slightly overestimate the power corresponding to the damage threshold or the practical safe level. Using the estimated power densities assuming a CW light source, we can determine the corresponding power levels as:
SM400 Fiber: 7.07 x 10-8 cm2 x 1 MW/cm2 = 7.1 x 10-8 MW = 71 mW (Theoretical Damage Threshold)
7.07 x 10-8 cm2 x 250 kW/cm2 = 1.8 x 10-5 kW = 18 mW (Practical Safe Level)
SMF-28 Ultra Fiber: 8.66 x 10-7 cm2 x 1 MW/cm2 = 8.7 x 10-7 MW = 870 mW (Theoretical Damage Threshold)
8.66 x 10-7 cm2 x 250 kW/cm2 = 2.1 x 10-4 kW = 210 mW (Practical Safe Level)
Effective Area of Multimode Fibers
The effective area of a multimode (MM) fiber is defined by the core diameter, which is typically far larger than the MFD of an SM fiber. For optimal coupling, Thorlabs recommends focusing a beam to a spot roughly 70 - 80% of the core diameter. The larger effective area of MM fibers lowers the power density on the fiber end face, allowing higher optical powers (typically on the order of kilowatts) to be coupled into multimode fiber without damage.
Damage Mechanisms Related to Ferrule / Connector Termination
Plot showing approximate input power that can be incident on a single mode silica optical fiber with a termination. Each line shows the estimated power level due to a specific damage mechanism. The maximum power handling is limited by the lowest power level from all relevant damage mechanisms (indicated by a solid line).
Fibers terminated with optical connectors have additional power handling considerations. Fiber is typically terminated using epoxy to bond the fiber to a ceramic or steel ferrule. When light is coupled into the fiber through a connector, light that does not enter the core and propagate down the fiber is scattered into the outer layers of the fiber, into the ferrule, and the epoxy used to hold the fiber in the ferrule. If the light is intense enough, it can burn the epoxy, causing it to vaporize and deposit a residue on the face of the connector. This results in localized absorption sites on the fiber end face that reduce coupling efficiency and increase scattering, causing further damage.
For several reasons, epoxy-related damage is dependent on the wavelength. In general, light scatters more strongly at short wavelengths than at longer wavelengths. Misalignment when coupling is also more likely due to the small MFD of short-wavelength SM fiber that also produces more scattered light.
To minimize the risk of burning the epoxy, fiber connectors can be constructed to have an epoxy-free air gap between the optical fiber and ferrule near the fiber end face. Our high-power multimode fiber patch cables use connectors with this design feature.
Determining Power Handling with Multiple Damage Mechanisms
When fiber cables or components have multiple avenues for damage (e.g., fiber patch cables), the maximum power handling is always limited by the lowest damage threshold that is relevant to the fiber component. In general, this represents the highest input power that can be incident on the patch cable end face and not the coupled output power.
As an illustrative example, the graph to the right shows an estimate of the power handling limitations of a single mode fiber patch cable due to damage to the fiber end face and damage via an optical connector. The total input power handling of a terminated fiber at a given wavelength is limited by the lower of the two limitations at any given wavelength (indicated by the solid lines). A single mode fiber operating at around 488 nm is primarily limited by damage to the fiber end face (blue solid line), but fibers operating at 1550 nm are limited by damage to the optical connector (red solid line).
In the case of a multimode fiber, the effective mode area is defined by the core diameter, which is larger than the effective mode area for SM fiber. This results in a lower power density on the fiber end face and allows higher optical powers (on the order of kilowatts) to be coupled into the fiber without damage (not shown in graph). However, the damage limit of the ferrule / connector termination remains unchanged and as a result, the maximum power handling for a multimode fiber is limited by the ferrule and connector termination.
Please note that these are rough estimates of power levels where damage is very unlikely with proper handling and alignment procedures. It is worth noting that optical fibers are frequently used at power levels above those described here. However, these applications typically require expert users and testing at lower powers first to minimize risk of damage. Even still, optical fiber components should be considered a consumable lab supply if used at high power levels.
Intrinsic Damage Threshold
In addition to damage mechanisms at the air / glass interface, optical fibers also display power handling limitations due to damage mechanisms within the optical fiber itself. These limitations will affect all fiber components as they are intrinsic to the fiber itself. Two categories of damage within the fiber are damage from bend losses and damage from photodarkening.
Bend Losses
Bend losses occur when a fiber is bent to a point where light traveling in the core is incident on the core/cladding interface at an angle higher than the critical angle, making total internal reflection impossible. Under these circumstances, light escapes the fiber, often in a localized area. The light escaping the fiber typically has a high power density, which burns the fiber coating as well as any surrounding furcation tubing.
A special category of optical fiber, called double-clad fiber, can reduce the risk of bend-loss damage by allowing the fiber’s cladding (2nd layer) to also function as a waveguide in addition to the core. By making the critical angle of the cladding/coating interface higher than the critical angle of the core/clad interface, light that escapes the core is loosely confined within the cladding. It will then leak out over a distance of centimeters or meters instead of at one localized spot within the fiber, minimizing the risk of damage. Thorlabs manufactures and sells 0.22 NA double-clad multimode fiber, which boasts very high, megawatt range power handling.
Photodarkening
A second damage mechanism, called photodarkening or solarization, can occur in fibers used with ultraviolet or short-wavelength visible light, particularly those with germanium-doped cores. Fibers used at these wavelengths will experience increased attenuation over time. The mechanism that causes photodarkening is largely unknown, but several fiber designs have been developed to mitigate it. For example, fibers with a very low hydroxyl ion (OH) content have been found to resist photodarkening and using other dopants, such as fluorine, can also reduce photodarkening.
Even with the above strategies in place, all fibers eventually experience photodarkening when used with UV or short-wavelength light, and thus, fibers used at these wavelengths should be considered consumables.
Preparation and Handling of Optical Fibers
General Cleaning and Operation Guidelines
These general cleaning and operation guidelines are recommended for all fiber optic products. Users should still follow specific guidelines for an individual product as outlined in the support documentation or manual. Damage threshold calculations only apply when all appropriate cleaning and handling procedures are followed.
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All light sources should be turned off prior to installing or integrating optical fibers (terminated or bare). This ensures that focused beams of light are not incident on fragile parts of the connector or fiber, which can possibly cause damage.
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The power-handling capability of an optical fiber is directly linked to the quality of the fiber/connector end face. Always inspect the fiber end prior to connecting the fiber to an optical system. The fiber end face should be clean and clear of dirt and other contaminants that can cause scattering of coupled light. Bare fiber should be cleaved prior to use and users should inspect the fiber end to ensure a good quality cleave is achieved.
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If an optical fiber is to be spliced into the optical system, users should first verify that the splice is of good quality at a low optical power prior to high-power use. Poor splice quality may increase light scattering at the splice interface, which can be a source of fiber damage.
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Users should use low power when aligning the system and optimizing coupling; this minimizes exposure of other parts of the fiber (other than the core) to light. Damage from scattered light can occur if a high power beam is focused on the cladding, coating, or connector.
Tips for Using Fiber at Higher Optical Power
Optical fibers and fiber components should generally be operated within safe power level limits, but under ideal conditions (very good optical alignment and very clean optical end faces), the power handling of a fiber component may be increased. Users must verify the performance and stability of a fiber component within their system prior to increasing input or output power and follow all necessary safety and operation instructions. The tips below are useful suggestions when considering increasing optical power in an optical fiber or component.
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Splicing a fiber component into a system using a fiber splicer can increase power handling as it minimizes possibility of air/fiber interface damage. Users should follow all appropriate guidelines to prepare and make a high-quality fiber splice. Poor splices can lead to scattering or regions of highly localized heat at the splice interface that can damage the fiber.
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After connecting the fiber or component, the system should be tested and aligned using a light source at low power. The system power can be ramped up slowly to the desired output power while periodically verifying all components are properly aligned and that coupling efficiency is not changing with respect to optical launch power.
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Bend losses that result from sharply bending a fiber can cause light to leak from the fiber in the stressed area. When operating at high power, the localized heating that can occur when a large amount of light escapes a small localized area (the stressed region) can damage the fiber. Avoid disturbing or accidently bending fibers during operation to minimize bend losses.
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Users should always choose the appropriate optical fiber for a given application. For example, large-mode-area fibers are a good alternative to standard single mode fibers in high-power applications as they provide good beam quality with a larger MFD, decreasing the power density on the air/fiber interface.
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Step-index silica single mode fibers are normally not used for ultraviolet light or high-peak-power pulsed applications due to the high spatial power densities associated with these applications.
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Item # | Info | Center Wavelength |
Bandwidth | Insertion Lossa |
Directivitya | Fiberb | Max Power Leveld | Termination | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
White and Red Portsc | Blue Port | ||||||||
PFC980HB | 980 nm | ±15 nm | ≤0.65 dB (Click for Plot)e |
≥60 dB | PANDA, Equivalent to PM 98-U25D |
Single Mode, HI1060 |
1 W (Connectors or Bare Fiber) 5 W (Spliced) |
No Connectors, Scissor Cut |
|
PFC980HF | FC/PCf | ||||||||
PFC980HA | FC/APCf |
Item # | Info | Center Wavelength |
Bandwidth | Insertion Lossa |
Directivitya | Fiberb | Max Power Leveld | Termination | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
White and Red Portsc | Blue Port | ||||||||
PFC1064HB | 1064 nm | ±15 nm | ≤0.65 dB (Click for Plot)e |
≥60 dB | PANDA, Equivalent to PM 98-U25D |
Single Mode, HI1060 |
1 W (Connectors or Bare Fiber) 5 W (Spliced) |
No Connectors, Scissor Cut |
|
PFC1064HF | FC/PCf | ||||||||
PFC1064HA | FC/APCf |
Item # | Info | Center Wavelength |
Bandwidth | Insertion Lossa |
Directivitya | Fiberb | Max Power Leveld | Termination | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
White and Red Portsc | Blue Port | ||||||||
PFC1550HB | 1550 nm | ±15 nm | ≤0.65 dB (Click for Plot)e |
≥60 dB | PANDA, Equivalent to PM 15-U25D |
Single Mode, SMF-28f |
1 W (Connectors or Bare Fiber) 5 W (Spliced) |
No Connectors, Scissor Cut |
|
PFC1550HF | FC/PCg | ||||||||
PFC1550HA | FC/APCg |