Scaling the mode instability threshold with multicore fibers

Mode instabilities (MIs) have quickly become the most limiting effect for the average power scaling of nearly diffraction-limited beams from state-of-the-art fiber laser systems. In this work it is shown that, by using an advanced multicore photonic crystal fiber design, the threshold power of MIs can be increased linearly with the number of cores. An average output power of 536 W, corresponding to 4 times the threshold power of a single core, is demonstrated.