50 μm core diameter Yb³⁺Al³⁺/F⁻ codoped silica fiber with M²<1.1 beam quality.

This paper reports, for the first time to our best knowledge, a nearly diffraction-limited output in a Yb(3+)/Al(3+)/F(-) codoped double cladding silica fiber with a 50 μm core diameter and 0.02 core NA. The core glass with a diameter >6  mm was fabricated through solgel process combined with high temperature sintering. Laser performances of this fiber at different bend diameters were studied. The mean M2<1.1 in this 50 μm core diameter fiber was achieved at a bend diameter of 0.35 m. The core glass with the refractive index nearly equal to pure silica glass is suitable for the fiber design, such as large-mode-area photonic crystal fiber.