Highly efficient higher-order modes filtering into aperiodic very large mode area fibers for single-mode propagation

International audienceWe report here on the first experimental demonstration, to the best of our knowledge, of a new generation of very large mode area (VLMA) fibers intended to strengthen single-mode propagation. The originality of this work relies on an aperiodicity of the inner cladding microstructuration exacerbating the spatial rejection of higher-order-modes (HOMs) while preserving a significant confinement of the fundamental mode. The single-mode behavior was demonstrated using an optical low-coherence interferometry measurement based on the group-velocity dispersion. As suggested through a preliminary numerical approach, this outstanding characteristic/behavior is evidenced over a large spectral range spanning from 1 to 2 μm for a core diameter of 60 μm. Core scalability was also investigated