Waveguide modes of hollow photonic-crystal fibers

Waveguide modes of microstructure fibers with a hollow core and a two-dimensionally periodic cladding are studied experimentally and theoretically. The spectrum of modes guided in the hollow core of these fibers displays isolated maxima, indicating that waveguiding is supported due to the high reflectivity of the fiber cladding within photonic band gaps. The main properties of the spectrum of modes guided in a hollow core of a photonic-crystal fiber and radiation intensity distribution in these modes are qualitatively explained in terms of the model of a periodic coaxial waveguide.     

Raman-resonance-enhanced composite nonlinearity of air-guided modes in hollow photonic-crystal fibers

Coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) is used to measure relations between the resonant (Raman) and nonresonant (Kerr-type) optical nonlinearities of air-guided modes in a hollow-core photonic-crystal fiber (PCF). We demonstrate that, due to its interference nature, CARS provides a convenient tool for measuring the contribution of the fiber cladding to the total nonlinearity sensed by air-guided modes in hollow PCFs. On a Raman resonance with molecular vibrations in the gas that fills the fiber core, a two-color laser field is shown to induce optical nonlinearities that are several orders of magnitude higher than the nonresonant Kerr-type nonlinearities typical of air-guided PCF modes.     

Waveguide modes of electromagnetic radiation in hollow-core microstructure and photonic-crystal fibers

The properties of waveguide modes in hollow-core microstructure fibers with two-dimensionally periodic and aperiodic claddings are studied. Hollow fibers with a two-dimensionally periodic cladding support air-guided modes of electromagnetic radiation due to the high reflectivity of the cladding within photonic band gaps. Transmission spectra measured for such modes display isolated maxima, visualizing photonic band gaps of the cladding. The spectrum of modes guided by the fibers of this type can be tuned by changing cladding parameters. The possibility of designing hollow photonic-crystal fibers providing maximum transmission for radiation with a desirable wavelength is demonstrated. Fibers designed to transmit 532-, 633-, and 800-nm radiation have been fabricated and tested. The effect of cladding aperiodicity on the properties of modes guided in the hollow core of a microstructure fiber is examined. Hollow fibers with disordered photonic-crystal claddings are shown to guide localized modes of electromagnetic radiation. Hollow-core photonic-crystal fibers created and investigated in this paper offer new solutions for the transmission of ultrashort pulses of high-power laser radiation, improving the efficiency of nonlinear-optical processes, and fiber-optic delivery of high-fluence laser pulses in technological laser systems.     

On the structure of waveguiding regions for high-order core modes of solid-core photonic-crystal fibers

Waveguiding properties of the higher-order modes in solid-core photonic-crystal fibers are studied numerically. The dispersion diagram is calculated for glass fibers with refractive indices of 1.611 with a hole-to-period ratio of 0.5 and 0.8. It is shown that, below the cutoff of the higher-order core modes, frequency regions exist within which these modes may propagate due to bandgaps in the cladding. In other words, the guiding effect in the solid-core fibers may result both from total internal reflection and from resonant reflection by the periodic cladding.     

Integral equations for photonic-crystal fibers

The integral and integro-differential equations for photonic-crystal waveguides (fibers) with both infinite and finite quasi-periodic dielectric coatings have been obtained, with previous consideration of the equations for 2D periodic photonic crystals with magnetodielectric and metallic inclusions. The corresponding numerical results are presented.     

Four-wave mixing in hollow photonic-crystal fibers

A radical enhancement of four-wave mixing in hollow-core photonic-crystal fibers is experimentally demonstrated. An enhancement ratio of about 800 relative to the regime of tight focusing is achieved for the four-wave mixing process 3ω=2ω+2ω?2ω, where ω and 2ω are the frequencies of fundamental radiation and the second harmonic of picosecond Nd:YAG laser pulses.     

Modes of capillary photonic-crystal fibers with hollow core

A rigorous method of integral equations has been used to calculate the dispersion characteristics, fields, and radiation patterns of the leaky modes of photonic-crystal fibers with a shell in the form of a bounded 2D photonic crystal composed of parallel quartz capillaries contacting each other and a core in the form of a defect of a photonic crystal with one capillary removed. It is shown that, when thick-walled capillaries (with an air content in the shell of about 28%) are used, these fibers can be single mode and have an overlap integral of the fundamental-mode field with the dielectric medium that is smaller by a factor of more than two (in comparison with similar fibers formed by air channels of circular cross section). The significant dispersion of the group velocity of the fundamental modes of fibers near the edge of the photonic crystal band gap has been found.     

Designing dispersion-compensating photonic-crystal fibers using a genetic algorithm

A genetic algorithm is combined with a fully vectorial finite-element solver to design photonic-crystal fibers (PCFs) for a broadband dispersion compensation in a generic stretcher-compressor system of an ytterbium fiber laser. Two types of PCFs are compared in terms of their dispersion-compensation capability, optical nonlinearity, and confinement loss. Fibers of the first type are standard PCFs where a solid core is surrounded by a triangular uniform lattice of identical air-holes. In PCFs of the second type, the solid core is surrounded by a dual-scale cladding, where the inner part comprises air-holes of different diameters, while the outer cladding consists of large-diameter air-holes. Second-type PCFs are shown to provide a much more accurate dispersion compensation. The influence of fiber-fabrication tolerances on the precision of dispersion compensation in short-pulse fiber laser systems is examined.     

Solitons evolving toward few-and single-cycle pulses in photonic-crystal fibers

Numerical analysis of soliton dynamics in highly nonlinear photonic-crystal fibers reveals intriguing scenarios enabling efficient pulse compression down to single-cycle field waveforms. We derive simple analytical expressions relating the pulse width and the energy of ultrashort pulses generated through such a field-evolution dynamics to the fiber dispersion and nonlinearity.     

Nanomanaging dispersion, nonlinearity, and gain of photonic-crystal fibers

Arrays of submicron air holes are shown to modify the properties of guided modes in optical fibers, enabling a fine tuning of fiber dispersion, nonlinearity, and gain. We demonstrate fiber dispersion nanomanagement solutions that provide ultra-flattened group-velocity dispersion profiles and control the fiber nonlinearity and gain. PACS 42.65.Wi; 42.81.Qb An announcement to this article was published online March 9, 2007 with DOI .     

Soliton self-frequency shift of 6-fs pulses in photonic-crystal fibers

Raman soliton phenomena in photonic crystal fibers are shown to allow efficient tunable frequency shifting of sub-10-fs laser pulses. Soliton self-frequency shift in a photonic-crystal fiber with a core diameter less than 2 μm is used to transform the spectrum of a 6-fs 2-nJ Ti: sapphire-laser pulse, dominated by a 670-nm peak, into a spectrum featuring a well-resolved intense spectral component centered at 1064 nm, which is ideally suited as a seed for Nd: YAG- and ytterbium-based laser devices.     

Pulse-shaping control of spectral transformations of ultrashort pulses in photonic-crystal fibers

We experimentally demonstrate that the initial pulse width and spectral phase of ultrashort laser pulses may significantly influence the solition dynamics of such pulses in a photonic-crystal fiber. These findings suggest new solutions for the transmission, shaping, stretching, amplification, and spectral transformation of ultrashort pulses in all-fiber laser technologies.     

Dynamics of Cherenkov radiation trapped by a soliton in photonic-crystal fibers

The trapping of Cherenkov radiation by Raman solitons is an important process during supercontinuum generation and has been demonstrated as an effective way to extend the Cherenkov-radiation-based wavelength conversion toward the visible band. In this Letter we demonstrate that the existence of the self-steepening effect increases the energy of the Cherenkov radiation during the trap while reducing its frequency blueshift. The frequency and energy evolutions of Cherenkov radiation are analytically studied, and the predictions are consistent with the simulations based on the generalized nonlinear Schr?dinger equation.     

Spectral broadening of femtosecond laser pulses in fibers with a photonic-crystal cladding

Changes in the spectra of femtosecond laser pulses propagating through fibers with a cladding having the structure of a two-dimensional photonic crystal are experimentally investigated. It is demonstrated that the waveguide properties of defect modes of photonic-crystal fibers provide an opportunity to considerably increase the efficiency of spectral broadening of short laser pulses as compared with conventional fibers.     

Local observation and spectroscopy of optical modes in an active photonic-crystal microcavity

We report the direct, room-temperature, near-field mapping and spectroscopy of the optical modes of a photonic-crystal microcavity containing quantum wells. We use a near-field optical probe to reveal the imprint of the cavity mode structure on the quantum-well emission. Furthermore, near-field spectroscopy allows us to demonstrate the strong spatial and spectral dependence of the coupling between the sources and the microcavity. This knowledge will be essential in devising future nanophotonic devices.     

Nonlinear-optical transformation of nanosecond laser pulses and controlled supercontinuum generation in photonic-crystal fibers

Photonic-crystal fibers are shown to allow efficient spectral transformation of nanosecond laser pulses through parametric four-wave mixing and stimulated Raman scattering. Regimes providing highly efficient transformation of nanosecond laser pulses into white-light broadband radiation (supercontinuum) are identified. A strong parametric coupling between Stokes and anti-Stokes Raman sidebands around the wavelength of zero group-velocity dispersion is shown to increase the bandwidth and to improve the spectral quality of supercontinuum radiation.     

Analysis of the temperature dependence of the spectral characteristics for the hollow-core photonic-crystal fibers

The temperature dependence of the spectral characteristics of monocapillaries made of S87-2 glass and filled with air and ethanol is experimentally and theoretically studied in temperature intervals 23–90°C and 23–40°C, respectively. The same measurements are performed using the photonic-crystal fibers made of AR-Glass (Schott). The transmission spectra of the air-filled fibers are slightly transformed when the temperature is varied in the above interval. It is demonstrated that the transmission peak is red-shifted and the shift is proportional to the temperature when the cavities are filled with ethanol. It is also demonstrated that the temperature dependence of the shape of the transmission spectra is predominantly determined by the parameters of the medium that fills the hollow channel rather than the fiber material. The temperature sensitivities of the photonic-crystal fiber filled with ethanol and a monocapillary are 1.25 and 0.40 nm/°C, respectively.     

Higher-order Gabitov–Turitsyn equation for solitons in optical fibers

The higher-order multiple-scale asymptotic analysis is carried out for the Gabitov–Turitsyn equation that governs the propagation of dispersion-managed solitons through optical fibers. The averaged equation, with the consideration of higher-order terms, provides an in-depth understanding of the soliton propagation through an optical fiber. The polarization preserving fibers as well as birefringent fibers are considered in this paper. Finally, the study is extended to the case of multiple channels, namely dispersion-flattened fibers.