Investigation of glow discharge of gas in hollow-core fibers

For the purpose of constructing novel waveguide gas lasers based on hollow-core fibers, we carried out a series of discharge experiments and succeeded in obtaining sustained glow discharge of gas in a 150-μm-inner-diameter (i.d.) hollow-core fiber with the length of 13.7 cm and in a 50-μm-i.d. hollow-core fiber with the length of 2.9 cm by using longitudinal direct current excitation. A flash glow is also observed in hollow-core photonic bandgap fiber with 20-μm i.d. and 2.6-cm length. Initial measurements of current–voltage (I–V) characteristics have been carried out for fibers of various hollow-core sizes filled with various gases at different pressures. Theoretical I–V characteristics are presented and compared with experimental results. Gas discharges in miniature-bore hollow-core fibers were found to exhibit unique characteristics that are different from the traditional larger-bore-diameter tubes. The glow-discharge spectrum of helium gas in a 150-μm-i.d. and 8-cm-length hollow-core fiber is also presented. PACS 42.55.Wd; 42.55.Lt; 52.80.-s     

Nonlinear compression of picosecond chirped pulse from thin-disk amplifier system through a gas-filled hollow-core fiber

We theoretically study the nonlinear compression of a 20-m J, 1030-nm picosecond chirped pulse from the thin-disk amplifier in a krypton gas-filled hollow-core fiber. The chirp from the thin-disk amplifier system has little influence on the initial pulse, however, it shows an effect on the nonlinear compression in hollow-core fiber. We use a large diameter hollow waveguide to restrict undesirable nonlinear effects such as ionization; on the other hand, we employ suitable gas pressure and fiber length to promise enough spectral broadening; with 600-μm, 6-bar(1 bar = 105Pa), 1.8-m hollow fiber,we obtain 31.5-fs pulse. Moreover, we calculate and discuss the optimal fiber lengths and gas pressures with different initial durations induced by different grating compression angles for reaching a given bandwidth. These results are meaningful for a compression scheme from picoseconds to femtoseconds.     

Hollow-core waveguide characterization by optically induced particle transport

We introduce a method for optical characterization of hollow-core optical waveguides. Radiation pressure exerted by the waveguide modes on dielectric microspheres is used to analyze salient properties such as propagation loss and waveguide mode profiles. These quantities were measured for quasi-single-mode and multimode propagation in on-chip liquid-filled hollow-core antiresonant reflecting optical waveguides. Excellent agreement with analytical and numerical models is found, demonstrating that optically induced particle transport provides a simple, inexpensive, and nondestructive alternative to other characterization methods.     

Partially liquid-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fiber polarizer

A compact fiber polarizer is demonstrated by the filling of selected air holes of a hollow-core photonic crystal fiber (PCF) with a liquid. The liquid-filling results in an asymmetric waveguide structure, leading to a large polarization dependent loss. A 6 mm long ethanol-filled PCF exhibits a polarization extinction ratio of ～18 dB over a wavelength range from 1480 nm to 1600 nm.     

Critical power for self-focusing in bulk media and in hollow waveguides

We determine the threshold power for self-focusing collapse both in a bulk medium and in a hollow-core waveguide for various spatial profiles. We find that the threshold power for collapse in the waveguide is always equal to the lower-bound prediction for a bulk medium.     

Focusing diffused waveguides

Focusing optical fibre and thin film guide can be made to have nearly the same group velocity for every mode if the optimum distribution of refractive index or thickness of the film is realized. A focusing optical fibre is manufactured from a multilayer glass rod by solid state diffusion. A thin film waveguide is prepared from nitrocellulose by controlling the airflow distribution. Undulation of light propagating in the film is observed, and it is confirmed that the focusing property is determined by the distribution of the film thickness. The field distributions of the TE modes have been analysed for an optical waveguide fabricated by solid state diffusion. Glass waveguide has been manufactured with the appropriate concentration of lead ions to give the maximum propagation constant. A low loss waveguide is fabricated by the diffusion of lead or thallium ion into glass followed by selective etching.     

Dispersion properties of high-contrast grating hollow-core waveguides

We present unique dispersion characteristics of high-contrast grating (HCG) hollow-core waveguides and show that slow light can be facilitated using internal resonances developing inside the waveguide walls. In addition, we show a fast and precise method of inferring the dispersion information from the waveguide angular reflectivity spectrum.     

Hollow-core tapered coupler for large inner diameter hollow-core optical fibers

A novel hollow-core tapered coupler has been theoretically designed and fabricated by fiber drawingmachine. The coupler's inner wall is coated with a polycrystalline GeO_2 film. The coupling loss ofhollow-core tapered coupler is about 0.2 dB. Hollow-core tapered coupler reduces the transmission loss ofhollow-core optical fiber(HCOF) by 0.5 dB/m, therefore the coupler is suitable for coupling high powerCO_2 laser in industrial application.     

Detection H2S mixed with natural gas using hollow-core photonic bandgap fiber

An optical fiber gas sensor using hollow-core photonic bandgap fiber as a gas cell is proposed to detect H₂S mixed with natural gas. This sensor is advantageous for eliminating instability of light source, impact of thermal zero drift, and zero shift of photoelectric device. The gas sensing probe of configuration is using two shorter pieces of hollow-core photonic bandgap fiber (HC-PBF) with the same overall length instead of one long piece of HC-PBF to improve the system response. The experimental dates indicate that a minimum detectivity of 10 ppm for the system configuration was estimated.     

中红外空心Bragg光纤的制备及在气体传感中的应用

空心Bragg光纤可广泛用于气体传感, 但要求它的传输通带处于中红外波段, 以便与待测气体的基频吸收峰匹配. 本文提出了空心Bragg光纤传输通带的一种设计方法与波长控制工艺, 可以实现传输通带在2.5-12 μ m内任意波长的空心Bragg光纤的制备. 实验制备出一阶传输通带分别在10.6 μ m和 3.3 μ m的光纤样品, 利用截断法测量出其一阶传输通带损耗分别为5.9 dB/m和8.8 dB/m. 利用在传输通带在3.3 μ m的样品中注入和排出甲烷/氮气混合气体, 观察到了光纤样品透射谱随注入气体浓度的变化, 并用指数稀释法初步测量了该系统的浓度探测极限约为26 ppm, 验证了该光纤应用于气体传感的可行性.     

Extremely low-loss hollow core waveguide for VUV light

A new type of an extremely low-loss optical waveguide is proposed. In the vacuum-ultra-violet (VUV) region (wavelength less than 300 nm) most solid-state materials have a refractive index less than unity due to plasma vibration of electrons. The energy of VUV light is confined within the hollow core due to the smaller n_r than unity of the cladding material of the hollow core waveguide. Typical expected loss for 50 nm-wavelength VUV light of a 0.1 mm hollow-core waveguide is on the order of 0.05 dB/km.     

The waveguide laser: A review

The present article reviews the fundamental physical principles essential to an understanding of waveguide gas and liquid lasers, and the current technological state of these devices. At the present time, waveguide laser transitions span the visible through submillimeter regions of the wavelength spectrum. The introduction discusses the many applications of waveguide lasers and the wide variety of laser configurations that are possible. Section 1 summarizes the properties of modes in hollow dielectric waveguides of circular, rectangular, and planar cross section. Section 2 considers various approaches to optical feedback including internal and external mirror Fabry-Perot type resonators, hollow waveguide distributed feedback structures, and ring-resonant configurations. Section 3 discusses those aspects of molecular kinetic and laser theory pertinent to the design and optimization of waveguide gas lasers such as the scaling laws for discharge-excited gas lasers, molecular models useful in maximizing the oscillation bandwidth, the effects of gas flow rate, and the physics of optically-pumped far-infrared lasers. Finally, a review of the waveguide gas and liquid lasers reported to date is given in Section 4.     

Long ranged correlations at a solid-fluid interface A signature of the approach to complete wetting

We have investigated the behaviour of the pairwise distribution function for Sullivan's model of a gas adsorbed on a solid substrate. We show that in the approach to complete wetting, when a thick film of liquid density is adsorbed on the substrate, long ranged transverse correlations (parallel to the surface) develop at the edge of the film where the density profile of the fluid resembles that of a liquid-gas interface. The long ranged correlations can be attributed to damped capillary-wave-like fluctuations; for a class I wetting situation the damping decreases and the range of the correlations increases and ultimately diverges as the bulk gas pressure approaches the saturated vapour pressure.

Our analysis provides a physical explanation of the long ranged transverse correlations calculated by Foiles and Ashcroft in their recent study of a model of argon at a carbon dioxide substrate. We also predict that long range transverse correlations will occur for the case of adsorption from a dense liquid provided the solid-fluid potential is such that a thick film of gas forms between the substrate and the bulk liquid.     

Self-channeling of subgigawatt femtosecond laser pulses in a ground-state waveguide induced in the hollow core of a photonic crystal fiber

Femtosecond laser pulses with powers below the blowup threshold for self-focused beams are shown to experience spatial self-action in hollow-core photonic crystal fibers filled with argon, nitrogen, and atmospheric air. Regardless of the transverse field distribution at the input of the fiber, the output beam pattern in this regime tends to a circularly symmetric profile, corresponding to a ground-state waveguide induced by laser pulses inside a hollow fiber.     

Comparison of the filamentation and the hollow-core fiber characteristics for pulse compression into the few-cycle regime

The gas-filled hollow-core fiber compression and the optical filamentation technique are compared experimentally in a parameter regime suitable for intense few-cycle pulse generation. In particular, pointing stability, spectral properties, and spatial chirp are investigated. It is found that in the case of filamentation, the critical parameter for pointing stability is gas pressure inside the generation cell whereas for the hollow-core fiber it is alignment that plays this role. The hollow-core fiber technique yields spectra that are better suited for chirped-mirror pulse compression whereas filamentation offers higher throughput and prospects for easy-to-implement self-compression. We present spectral phase interferometry for direct electric-field reconstruction (SPIDER) measurements that directly show the transition in the spectral phase of the output continua into the self-compression regime as the gas pressure is increased. PACS 42.65.Re; 42.65.Jx; 42.65.Tg     

Broadband micro-Michelson interferometer with multi-optical-path beating using a sphered-end hollow fiber

We demonstrate a high-sensitivity broadband (1250-1650 nm) fiber micro-Michelson interferometer using a single-mode fiber end-spliced with a sphered-end hollow-core fiber. The hollow core is slightly smaller than the solid core of a single-mode fiber, so the fractional power of the core mode is converted into cladding modes. The excited cladding modes propagate at distinct optical paths along the hollow-core fiber and have individual foci outside the spherical lens. The reflected core mode, generated at the solid core-air interface, and the reflected cladding modes, generated at external material, interfere with each other to produce beating in the interference signals.     

Integrated Electro-Optic Switches Based on Ferroelectric Liquid Crystal Waveguides

Two integrated electro-optic switches based on smectic C * ferroelectric liquid crystal (FLC) planar waveguides oriented in the bookshelf geometry have been designed and realized. In order to test the first switch, a particular waveguide structure consisting of a three-stage device, having a thin FLC film middle stage and two glass waveguides as other stages, has been designed and realized. The second one is realized by a planar waveguide with a smectic C * ferroelectric liquid crystal overlayer. In this article the design, the realization, and the experimental characterization of electro-optical switches are reported. The electro-optical behavior and the response time of both devices have been studied for different configurations for both TE and TM polarization. Our main aim was to demonstrate the feasibility of an integrated electro-optic device based on a FLC waveguide, and our experimental results provide a number of interesting indications about device optimization and practical applications.     

Determination of glucose concentration in biological liquids using photonic crystal waveguides

The possibility of using hollow-core photonic crystal waveguides as biological sensors is shown. The influence of the glucose concentration in solutions introduced into the waveguide core on the transmission spectrum of photonic crystal waveguides is shown. Two possible methods of determining the glucose concentration in liquids are considered, refractometric and photometric.     

Film transitions of receding contact lines

When a solid plate is withdrawn from a liquid bath, a receding contact line is formed where solid, liquid, and gas meet. Above a critical speed U_cr, a stationary contact line can no longer exist and the solid will eventually be covered completely by a liquid film. Here we show that the bifurcation diagram of this coating transition changes qualitatively, from discontinuous to continuous, when decreasing the inclination angle θ_p of the plate. We show that this effect is governed by the presence of capillary waves, illustrating that the large scale flow strongly effects the maximum speed of dewetting.     

液体横向射流在气膜作用下的破碎过程

为了研究液体横向射流在气膜作用下的破碎过程,采用背景光成像技术及VOF TO DPM方法进行了实验研究和仿真研究,模拟介质为水和空气.研究结果表明,液体射流在气膜作用下主要存在两种破碎过程:柱状破碎和表面破碎.Rayleigh-Taylor(R-T)不稳定性产生的表面波是液体射流发生柱状破碎的主要原因,气流穿透表面波的波谷导致射流柱破碎,破碎后的液丝沿流向逐渐发展呈带状分布.Kelvin-Helmholtz(K-H)不稳定性产生的表面波是液体射流发生表面破碎的主要原因,液丝和液滴从射流表面剥离.局部动量比对液体横向射流的破碎过程具有重要影响,当局部动量比较低时,液体射流的破碎由K-H不稳定性主导;随着局部动量比的增大液体射流的破碎逐渐由R-T不稳定性主导.液体射流的破碎长度及穿透深度均随局部动量比的增大而增大.