Thermo-optical effects in large mode area photonic crystal fibers

High pulse energy and peak powers of fiber laser systems require the development of large effective area and new fiber designs. However thermally induced refractive index change is one major limitation to the achievable power, causing degradation of the modal properties and preventing to obtain stable diffraction-limited output beam. The effects of thermally induced refractive index change on the guiding properties of photonic crystal fibers are thoroughly investigated.