Research progress of chelate precursor doping method to fabricate Yb-doped large-mode-area silica fibers for kW-level laser

With continuous efforts and practical managing experiences, the chelate precursor doping method has been justified as an effective way to dope rare-earth ions into silica host materials, a key technique in making large-mode-area silica fibers for high power laser applications. It is characterized by good controllability, stability and repeatability to accomplish different refractive index profiles. Different preforms with a large core, designed refractive index profile, good symmetrical shape and homogeneous elemental distribution were successfully fabricated. The home-made standard 20/400-type double-cladding Yb-doped large-mode-area silica fiber was drawn and presented a 1.6 kW laser output at 1064 nm, the highest power record publically reported with this method. With further optimization, chelate precusor doping method has potential to manufacture high power laser fibers for the next generation