A kind of Yb³⁺-doped photonic crystal fiber with small core fabricated using the powder sinter direction drawn rod technology is reported. Using the Yb³⁺-doped photonic crystal fiber as the laser gain medium, a fiber laser with the central wavelength of 1045 nm is obtained with the excitation of 976 nm by using the laser diode. In addition, the influence of the fiber length on the laser properties of fiber laser is experimentally investigated. The maximum output power is limited to 0.42 W by available small fiber core. The slope efficiency is 33%. The results show that the Yb³⁺-doped photonic crystal fiber fabricated in the powder sinter direction drawn rod technology can be used as the potential optical material for the high power fiber laser.powder sinter direction drawn rod technology