High-efficiency multi-spot beam generation with an all-fiber SMF-SCF structure

Area of Science:

• Optics and Photonics
• Materials Science

Background:

• Generating multi-spot laser beams is crucial for applications requiring parallel processing.
• Existing methods for creating multi-spot beam patterns can be complex or inefficient.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose an efficient, fully fiber-based method for generating multi-spot beam patterns.
• To demonstrate the scalability and applicability of this technique in laser manufacturing.

Main Methods:

• Utilized single-mode fiber (SMF) and square-core fiber (SCF) structures.
• Leveraged multimode interference within the SCF to create configurable square lattice beam patterns (2x2, 3x3, 4x4 arrays).
• Adjusted SCF length to control beam pattern configuration.

Main Results:

• Validated the approach through simulations and experiments at a 1060 nm wavelength.
• Achieved high power uniformity, minimal optical loss, and excellent stability across different beam configurations.
• Demonstrated enhanced processing efficiency in initial multi-spot laser drilling tests on metal surfaces.

Conclusions:

• The proposed SMF-SCF structure provides an efficient and stable method for generating multi-spot beam patterns.
• This technique offers significant potential for scalable, compact, and high-precision applications in photonics, laser manufacturing, and biomedical imaging.
• The ability to increase beam spot counts can substantially improve processing efficiency in relevant applications.