University of South Australia (UniSA), University of Adelaide (UoA), and Yale University optical scientists have discovered a method to enhance the power of fibre lasers while maintaining their beam quality, potentially making them a crucial defence technology against low-cost drones.
Researchers have proven the possible use of multimode optical fibre to increase power in fibre lasers by three to nine times without compromising beam quality, allowing them to focus on distant targets.
UniSA Future Industries Institute researcher and research co-author Dr Linh Nguyen suggests the new approach to extract high power from fibre lasers, making them more useful for defence, remote sensing, and gravitational wave detection.
“High-power fibre lasers are vital in manufacturing and defence, and becoming more so with the proliferation of cheap, unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) in modern battlefields,” Dr Nguyen said.
“A swarm of cheap drones can quickly drain the missile resource, leaving military assets and vehicles with depleted firing power for more combat-critical missions. High-power fibre lasers, with their extremely low-cost-per-shot and speed of light action, are the only feasible defence solution in the long run.”
Dr Nguyen noted that this is known as an asymmetric advantage: by playing the large number, a less expensive approach can defeat a more expensive, high-tech system.
The advanced capability offers a strong deterrent effect, aligning with Defence Strategic Review and AUKUS Pillar 2 objectives through an asymmetric advantage.
Dr Ori Henderson-Sapir, project investigator at the UoA’s Institute for Photonics and Advanced Sensing, highlights Australia’s long history in developing innovative fibre optics technologies.
“Our research launches Australia into a world-leading position to develop the next generation of high-power fibre lasers, not only for defence applications, but to aid new scientific discoveries.”
The method has been demonstrated in fibre lasers, and the researchers will present their findings at Photonics West, the premier international conference on photonics technology, in early 2024.