All-fiber 7 × 1 signal combiner for high power fiber lasers

We present an all-fiber 7×1 signal combiner for high power fiber lasers. Through theoretical analysis, the fabrication method is confirmed and the taper length of the fiber bundle is chosen to be 1 cm to ensure a high transmission efficiency of the combiner. Based on the theoretical results, an all-fiber 7×1 signal combiner with high transmission efficiency is fabricated. A capillary with low refractive index is fused around the bundle of signal fibers to make an additional cladding layer. Then the fiber bundle is tapered to match the core of the output fiber and then spliced with the output fiber. The combiner is tested with a 500 W fiber laser and a temperature increase of 13°C/kW without any active cooling is observed in the combiner. The power transmission efficiency is measured to be close to 99% for each input port and the beam quality M2 is around 10.