Pre-compensation of thermally induced refractive index changes in a depressed core fully aperiodic large-pitch fiber for high average power operation

To prevent the thermally induced spatial beam degradation occurring in high-power fiber lasers and amplifiers, index-depressed core "fully aperiodic large-pitch fibers" (FA-LPFs) have been designed and fabricated. In contrast to previous experimental works performed on FA-LPFs, in which the active core and the surrounding cladding material are quasi-index-matched, the core refractive index is in slight depression compared to the surrounding material (Delta n approximate to -3 x 10(-5)). Thus, the index-depressed fiber core tends first to behave as an anti-guide, preventing light from being properly guided into it. However, by increasing the absorbed pump power, the thermal load induces a parabolic refractive index change sufficient to compensate for the -3 x 10(-5) index depression in the core, enabling a robust single-mode amplification at high average power. As a proof of concept, using a 110 mu m depressed core FA-LPF, M-2 values of 1.3 were demonstrated in amplifier configuration from 60 W to a maximal value of 170 W of emitted average power only limited by the available pump power. (C) 2021 Optical Society of America