Confined propagation and near single-mode laser oscillation in a gain-guided, index antiguided optical fiber

The authors report laser oscillation in what appears to be a single transverse mode with very large mode area in optical fibers having heavily Nd-doped 100 mu m diameter cores with refractive index significantly lower in the core than in the surrounding cladding. Since fibers of this type cannot support conventional index-guided modes, their results appear to confirm a recent analysis which predicts gain-guided single-mode propagation in index antiguided fibers, provided the gain coefficient in the core exceeds a threshold value. Fibers of this type may be of significant interest for amplifiers and oscillators having large power outputs and/or small nonlinear pulse distortion. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.