3D-printed ceramic waveguide lasers could surpass the power of glass fiber lasers by 10 times

Key Points:

• Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) have developed the first all-ceramic waveguide using 3D printing, potentially enabling over a tenfold increase in output power compared to traditional glass fibers.
• The new waveguide uses direct ink writing to print both the core and cladding together from ytterbium-doped yttrium aluminum garnet and undoped garnet ceramic, improving fabrication yield and reducing defects.
• Ceramic waveguides offer advantages over silica glass, including higher power tolerance, better heat dissipation, and suppression of instabilities, making them suitable for high-power laser applications.
• The technology was tested in collaboration with the DEVCOM Army Research Laboratory, with plans to scale output power from hundreds of milliwatts to kilowatts for uses in laser machining and national defense.
• This advancement represents a significant step toward commercially viable, high-power ceramic waveguides that could impact telecommunications, laser systems, and national security technologies.