title: High-power photonic-bandgap fiber laser.
abstract: An original architecture of an active fiber allowing a nearly diffraction-limited beam to be produced is demonstrated. The active medium is a double-clad large-mode-area photonic-bandgap fiber consisting of a 10,000 ppm by weight Yb(3+)-doped core surrounded by an alternation of high- and low-index layers constituting a cylindrical photonic crystal. The periodic cladding allows the robust propagation of a approximately 200 microm(2) fundamental mode and efficiently discriminates against the high-order modes. The M(2) parameter was measured to be 1.17. A high-power cw laser was built exhibiting 80% slope efficiency above threshold. The robust propagation allows the fiber to be tightly bent. Weak incidence on the slope efficiency was observed with wounding radii as small as 6 cm.
authors.affiliation: Xlim, UMR 6172 CNRS, University of Limoges 123 Avenue A. Thomas, 87060 Limoges, France. sebastien.fevrier@xlim.fr
authors.forename: Sébastien
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Février
authors.forename: Dmitry D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Gaponov
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Roy
authors.forename: Mikhail E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Likhachev
authors.forename: Sergei L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Semjonov
authors.forename: Mikhail M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Bubnov
authors.forename: Evgeny M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Dianov
authors.forename: Mikhail Yu
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Yashkov
authors.forename: Vladimir F
authors.initials: VF
authors.lastname: Khopin
authors.forename: Mikhail Yu
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Salganskii
authors.forename: Aleksei N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Guryanov