Scaling of Yb-doped photonic crystal fiber to 200 μm core diameter for high beam quality laser output**Project supported by the Program for Changjiang Scholars and Innovative Research Team in University, China (Grant No. PCSIRT: 1212), the Key Grant Science and Technology Planning Project of Beijing, China (Grant Nos. PXM2013 014224 000077 and PXM2012 014224 000019), and the Science and Technology

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The rare earth-doped active fibers not only have ten thousands of square-micron core-area but also deliver a laser with near-diffraction-limited beam quality. However, they have been studied little. In this paper, we design a 200-μm-core-diameter Yb3+-doped photonic crystal fiber with a large pitch in the air-hole cladding region. Simulations demonstrate that only fundamental mode (FM) with a mode field area (MFA) of ∼ 28000 μm2 can be amplified and propagated at the gain saturation, and the beam quality is about 1.5. It is predicted that almost 105 mJ single-pulse energy is available from such a 1.5-meter-length fiber.