Ytterbium-doped large-mode-area silica fiber fabricated by using chelate precursor doping technique

We reported on a highly effective chelate precursor doping technique for Yb-doped large-mode-area (LMA) fiber manufacture. By accurately controlling the evaporation temperature and flow rate of carrier gas, the chelate precursor doping technique is capable of making Yb-doped LMA silica fiber with good uniformity free of center dip, low numerical aperture of ~0.056, large preform core size of 4.46 mm, and appropriate cladding absorption of 1.17  dB/m at 976.4 nm. Based on a single-end-pump all-fiber oscillator laser setup, the laser output at 1080 nm reached 700 W with slope efficiency of 54.2%.