Mode-filtered large-core fiber for short-pulse delivery with reduced nonlinear effects.

We present a large-core fiber (LCF) with a reduced nonlinear property for a single-mode beam delivery of intense ultrashort pulses. A tapered-fiber mode filter was fabricated in an LCF with the core diameter decreased from 20 μm to 6 μm at the tapered waist region surrounded by index-matched liquid. By the tapered geometry, the high-order mode was rejected so that our mode-filtered LCF acted as a single-mode fiber despite the multimode property of the original LCF. It has been found that this fiber class is suitable for applications, such as an endoscopic multiphoton microscope, that demand a flexible short-distance (<4 m) delivery medium of ultrashort pulses.