Multicore Photonic Crystal Fiber Lasers for High Power/Energy Applications

In this paper, the authors discuss the modal and lasing properties of multicore photonic crystal fiber lasers in the context of high power/energy production from fiber cores with very large mode area. Supermode selection methods like Talbot imaging or far-field aperturing are tested using 6-, 7-, and 18-core fibers. It is shown that in-phase mode selection is achieved efficiently by using either method. The fibers have been tested in continuous-wave (CW) and Q-switched laser operation. The mode field area is as large as 4240 mu m(2) for one of the fibers, providing up to 2 mJ of pulse energy in Q-switched operations with 30 ns pulse duration.