Patent ID: 8493651

Claim:
A method for cooling an optical gain fiber, the method comprising: providing the optical gain fiber; providing an optical-fiber-contact body having an inwardly facing surface and an outwardly facing surface on opposite sides of a heat-conductive material, wherein the outwardly facing surface includes a surface feature that spaces apart a plurality of loops of the optical gain fiber; guiding the fiber at a first end of the optical-fiber-contact body through the optical-fiber-contact body to the inwardly-facing surface; looping the fiber in a plurality of loops in thermal contact with the inwardly facing surface of the optical-fiber-contact body in a direction from the first end of the optical-fiber-contact body towards a second end of the optical-fiber-contact body; guiding the fiber at the second end of the optical-fiber-contact body from the inwardly facing surface, through the optical-fiber-contact body from the inwardly facing surface to the outwardly facing surface; and winding the fiber in a plurality of loops in thermal contact with the outwardly facing surface of the optical-fiber-contact body in a direction from the second end of the optical-fiber-contact body towards the first end of the optical-fiber-contact body.