A higher-order-mode erbium-doped-fiber amplifier

We demonstrate the first erbium-doped fiber amplifier operating in a single, large-mode area, higher-order mode. A high-power, fundamental-mode, Raman fiber laser operating at 1480 nm was used as a pump source. Using a UV-written, long-period grating, both pump and 1564 nm signal were converted to the LP(0,10) mode, which had an effective area of 2700 microm(2) at 1550 nm. A maximum output power of 5.8 W at 1564 nm with more than 20 dB of gain in a 2.68 m long amplifier was obtained. The mode profile was undistorted at the highest output power.