AN OPTICAL FIBER, A FIBER LASER, A FIBER AMPLIFIER AND ARTICLES COMPRISING SUCH ELEMENTS

The invention relates to an optical fiber defining a longitudinal direction, the optical fiber comprising a core having a diameter larger than 10 mum, said core comprises at least two solid segments of different composition, at least one of the segments comprises a photo-sensitive material. The core may be segmented in its cross-sectional direction and/or in its longitudinal direction. The optical fiber may comprise a Bragg grating written in at least one of said solid core segments In a preferred embodiment the optical fiber comprises a core with an effective refractive index ncore, and a cladding surrounding said core, wherein in a cross-section perpendicular to said longitudinal direction, said core being segmented, said core comprising a first core segment with an area a1 and a second core segment with an area a2; said first core segment comprises at least one photo-sensitive material, such as Ge and/or B and/or P doped silica; said second core segment surrounds said first core segment.