Phase locking and supermode selection in multicore photonic crystal fiber lasers with a large doped area

We report on the laser properties of multicore photonic crystal fiber lasers. A stable phase locking of six- and seven-core structures through evanescent coupling is observed. Effective supermode selection is obtained by using both diffraction losses and the Talbot effect. A pure in-phase supermode is obtained (1.1 times diffraction limited). The laser operating in this mode has a slope efficiency of 70% with up to 44 W of output power. The modal area of the in-phase supermode multicore fiber is 1150 mu m(2), which makes it, to our knowledge, the single-mode fiber laser with the largest mode field area. In-phase laser action is stable when the fiber is bent. (c) 2005 Optical Society of America.