10-W-level CW waveguiding in an optical micro/nanofiber

Optical micro/nanofibers (MNFs) with a diameter below or close to the wavelength of the light, have attracted significant interest for applications ranging from optical sensing, nonlinear optics, to optomechanics and atom optics. While continuous-wave (CW) optical waveguiding is frequently adopted, so far most of the MNFs are operated in a low-power region (e.g., < 0.1 W). Here we demonstrate high-power CW optical waveguiding around 1550-nm wavelength in a silica MNF with power up to 13 W, which is more than 30 times higher than demonstrated previously. Our results may pave a way towards high-power MNF optics, for both scientific research and technological applications.