Supercontinuum generation in seven-core photonic crystal fiber pumped by a broadband picosecond pulsed fiber amplifier

We report a supercontinuum source generated in seven-core photonic crystal fibers(PCFs) pumped by a self-made all-fiber picosecond pulsed broadband fiber amplifier. The amplifier's output average power is 60 W at 1150 nm with spectral width of 260 nm, and its repetition rate is 8.47 MHz with pulse width of 221 ps. With two different lengths of seven-core PCF, different output powers and spectra are obtained. When a 10 m long seven-core PCF is chosen, the output supercontinuum covers the wavelength range from 620 nm to 1700 nm, with the output power of 11.7 W. With only 2 m long seven-core PCF used in the same experiment, the wavelength of the supercontinuum spans from 680 nm to 1700 nm,with the output power of 20.4 W. The results show that the pulse width is 385 ps in the 10 m long seven-core PCF and 255 ps in the 2 m long one, respectively, due to the normal dispersion of the PCF.     

Generation of a compact high-power high-efficiency normal-dispersion pumping supercontinuum in silica photonic crystal fiber pumped with a 1064-nm picosecond pulse

Broadband normal dispersion pumping supercontinuum （SC） generation in silica photonic crystal fiber （PCF） is investigated in this paper. A 1064-nm picosecond fiber laser is used to pump silica PCF for the SC generation. The length of PCF is optimized for the most efficient stimulated Raman scattering process in the picosecond pump pulse region. The first stimulated Raman Stokes peak is located in the anomalous dispersion regime of the PCF and near the zero dispersion wavelength; thus the SC generation process can benefit from both a normal dispersion pumping scheme and an anomalous dispersion pumping scheme. The 51.7-W SC spanning from about 700 nm to beyond 1700 nm is generated with an all-fiber configuration, and the pump-to-SC conversion efficiency is up to 90%. In order to avoid the output fiber end face damage and increase the stability of the system, an improved output solution for the high power SC is proposed in our experiment. This high-efficiency near-infrared SC source is very suitable for applications in which average output power and spectral power density are firstly desirable.     

Supercontinuum generated in all-normal dispersion photonic crystal fibers with picosecond pump pulses

The supercontinuum (SC) generation in all-normal dispersion (ANDi) photonic-crystal fiber (PCF) pumped by high power picosecond pulses are investigated in this paper. Our results show that an octave SC may be achieved by pumping the ANDi PCF with picosecond pump pulses. However, the PCF length required may have to be lengthened to several tens of centimeters, which is much longer than that with femtosecond pump pulses. The relatively long PCF gives rise to much higher Raman gain and stronger Raman frequency shift compared to those with femtosecond pump pulses, which in turn not only cause a distorted temporal waveform and an un-flattened spectrum, but also severely degrade the coherence of the generated SC.     

高相干度超连续谱产生的理论研究

超连续谱的相干性直接影响到很多光学测量器件的分辨率及准确性, 如何获得高相干度的超连续谱是当前非线性光学领域的研究热点之一. 本文首先分析超连续谱产生的机理, 认为调制不稳现象是降低超连续谱相干性的重要因素. 因此抑制调制不稳定性, 利用其他非线性效应(如自相位调制)是得到高相干性超连续谱的有效方法. 最后设计了一种全波段正常色散光子晶体光纤,仿真结果表明, 在脉宽400 fs无啁啾高斯脉冲抽运, 50 cm长该光子晶体光纤的条件下, 产生的超连续谱具有在相对功率大于-80 dB的全波段高度相干的特性.     

Supercontinuum generation in photonic crystal fiber using femtosecond pulses

Supercontinuum (SC) generation in photonic crystal fiber (PCF) is demonstrated using an amplified femtosecond stretched pulses. The stretched pulse is obtained from a mode-locked Erbium-doped fiber laser and operates at 1564 nm with a repetition rate of 8.27 MHz and a pulse width of 340 fs. Using a 50 m long PCF, broad SC spectra are observed starting from 1220 and 1050 nm for the corresponding 5.1 and 177 kW pump and spanning a wavelength region of more than 1750 nm. At a maximum peak pump power of 177 kW, flat SC which extends over bandwidths of 660 and 486 nm are obtained using 50 and 100 m piece of PCF respectively. However, the output power level is higher for the 100 m PCF especially at longer wavelength region.     

亚纳秒光脉冲抽运光子晶体光纤产生的瓦级超连续谱

研究了亚纳秒脉冲抽运光子晶体光纤产生高功率超连续谱的机理.采用掺镱锁模光纤激光器产生的脉宽570ps光脉冲,抽运1.8m光子晶体光纤,得到了平均功率为1.15W、光谱覆盖范围为750nm的超连续谱.通过实验和模拟结果的对比和分析,证实了亚纳秒脉冲抽运1.8m PCF产生超连续谱时,调制不稳定性效应起了重要作用.在研究了不同抽运功率下输出的超连续谱变化后,发现随着抽运功率的提高,输出功率也更高且超连续谱覆盖波段也更宽,在瓦级输出功率下依然未达到饱和展宽状态,还有进一步提高功率和展宽光谱的空间.     

Generation of an ultrabroadband supercontinuum in the mid-infrared region using dispersion-engineered GeAsSe photonic crystal fiber

An ultrabroadband mid-infrared (MIR) region supercontinuum (SC) is demonstrated numerically through dispersion-engineered traditional chalcogenide (ChG) photonic crystal fiber (PCF). By varying structural parameters pitch (hole to hole spacing) and air-hole diameter to pitch ratio, a number of 10-mm-long hexagonal PCFs made employing GeAsSe ChG glass as a core and air-holes of hexagonal lattice running through their lengths as a cladding are optimized to predict an efficient mid-infrared region SC spectral emission by pumping them using a tunable pump source between 2.9 and 3.3 µm. Simulations are carried out using an ultrashort pump pulse of 100-fs duration with a low pulse peak powers of between 3 and 4 kW into the optimized designs. It is found through numerical analysis that efficient SC spectral broadening with flattened output can be obtained by increasing the PCF pitch rather than increasing the PCF cladding containing air-hole diameter although a larger nonlinear coefficient could be obtained through increasing air-hole diameter of an optimized design. Simulation results show that the SC spectra can be broadened up to 12.2 µm for a certain design with a peak power of 3 kW. Using a peak power of 4 kW, it is possible to obtain SC spectral broadening beyond 14 µm with an optimized design spanning the wavelength range from 1.8 to 14 µm which covers the electromagnetic spectrum required for MIR molecular fingerprint region applications such as sensing and biological imaging.     

Infrared supercontinuum from a large mode area PCF under extreme picosecond excitation

Evolution of the long-wavelength edge of supercontinuum (SC) in a large mode-area photonic crystal fiber (LMA PCF) under extreme (close to the fiber damage threshold) picosecond excitation is analyzed for the first time to our knowledge. The obtained results are interpreted on the basis of the numerical simulations explaining both spectral and temporal characteristics of SC in dependence on the pulse power and the fiber length. An existence of the minimum LMA PCF length providing the broadest spectrum under the highest picosecond excitations is predicted. The multimode cross-modulation inside the LMA PCF is analyzed, as well.      

All fiber supercontinuum light source using photonic crystal fibers pumped by nanosecond fiber laser pulses

A novel compact supercontinuum (SC) source using the single mode photonic crystal fibers (PCF) pumped with an all fiber MOPA fiber laser is demonstrated experimentally. A bandwidth of 700 nm is achieved by operating the pumping fiber laser at a wavelength of 1064 nm, pulse duration of 10 ns, repetition rate of 50 kHz and peak power of 1 kW. The SC generation is initiated through modulation instability (MI) which breakups the nanosecond pump pulses into picosecond or femtosecond pulses, and further broadened through nonlinear effects of PCF.     

Broad spectral sliced multiwavelength source with a mode locked fiber laser

A simple multi-wavelength source is demonstrated based on spectral slicing of supercontinuum (SC) light using a Sagnac loop mirror. A mode locked fiber laser with pulse width of 800 fs is employed to generate the SC in photonic crystal fiber (PCF). The SC light extending from 1200 nm up to the wavelength region above 1750 nm is obtained at the amplified pulse pump power of 30 dBm. By slicing the SC with a loop mirror, a multiwavelength comb spectrum is obtained with different channel spacing for different operating wavelength region. Spacings of 1.5, 2.3, and 2.9 nm are shown at wavelength regions of 1220, 1450, and 1730 nm, respectively. It is also observed that the signal to noise ratio (SNR) increases from 15 to 20 dB as the operating wavelength increases from 1220 to 1730 nm region.     

Self-stabilization of the carrier-envelope phase of an optical parametric amplifier verified with a photonic crystal fiber

Experimental verification is given for self-stabilization of the carrier-envelope phase (CEP) of idler pulses from a noncollinear optical parametric amplifier. The verification is performed by spectral interference (SI) between an octave-broadened supercontinuum (SC) and its second harmonic. This SC is generated by nonlinear propagation of the second harmonic of the idler through a photonic crystal fiber (PCF). Although the modulational instability causes the intensity and CEP fluctuation and the amplified spontaneous emission noise in PCF degrades the visibility of SI, the CEP is verified to be stabilized.     

Characteristics analysis of extruded elliptical hole photonic crystal fibers with square air-core

An extruded elliptical hole photonic crystal fibers PCF with square air-core is proposed. By using a full vector finite-element method FV-FEM and anisotropic perfectly matched layers APML, the structure and optical properties of the proposed PCF are analyzed. Simulation results show that the birefringence of the proposed photonic crystal fiber can be up to the order of 10⁻², and has a flattened dispersion from 1.20 μm to 1.80 μm. The proposed PCF may have important application in super-continuum SC generation, dispersion compensation, fiber-optic sensing systems and other aspects.     

飞秒光脉冲在光子晶体光纤不同色散区产生超连续谱的数值分析

采用预测校正分步傅里叶方法数值模拟了飞秒光脉冲在光子晶体光纤中的非线性传输和超连续谱产生,分析了初始光脉冲的中心波长、峰值功率和光纤长度在光子晶体光纤正、反常色散区对超连续谱形状和带宽的影响。结果表明,当初始光脉冲的中心波长在光纤的反常色散区时,产生的超连续谱宽要远宽于正常色散区,但是光谱的平坦性较差;当光脉冲中心波长在靠近零色散波长的反常色散区且其他脉冲参数不变的情况下,存在一个产生宽且平坦的超连续谱的最佳峰值功率和最佳光纤长度。对于超连续谱系统的优化设计与实际应用具有参考意义。     

光子晶体光纤的研究新进展

介绍了国内外光子晶体光纤(PCF)研究的新进展,涉及到大负色散PCF研究、光子带隙型PCF的带隙与模式研究、利用PCF的波长可调节有效频率变换、基于PCF的可见光波段平坦超连续谱(SC)和高效宽带切伦科夫辐射(CR)的产生等,并介绍了近期在PCF相关理论和实验方面研究进展,包括PCF的数值分析新方法,极大负色散的PCF...     

Dispersion flattened photonic crystal fiber with high nonlinearity for supercontinuum generation at 1.55 μm

A robust design for a photonic crystal fiber (PCF) based on pure silica with small normal dispersion and high nonlinear coefficient for its dual concentric core structure is presented.This design is suitable for flat broadband supercontinuum (SC) generation in the 1.55-μm region.The numerical results show that the nonlinear coefficient of the proposed eight-ring PCF is 33.8 W -1 ·km -1 at 1550 nm.Ultraflat dispersion with a value between -1.65 and -0.335 ps/(nm·km) is obtained ranging from 1375 to 1625 nm.The 3-dB bandwidth of the SC is 125 nm (1496–1621 nm),with a fiber length of 80 m and a corresponding input peak power of 43.8 W.The amplitude noise is considered to be related to SC generation.For practical fabrication,the influence of the random imperfections of airhole diameters on dispersion and nonlinearity is discussed to verify the robustness of our design.     

双零色散光子晶体光纤中可见光超连续谱的产生

在掺镱锁模光纤激光器发出的皮秒脉冲的抽运下,本文报道了双零色散的多芯光子晶体光纤中可见光超连续谱的产生.这种光子晶体光纤的类似同轴双芯结构提供了相隔很近的双零色散点.第二个零色散波长的存在阻止了反常色散区内的由脉冲内拉曼散射引起的孤子的频移,形成了稳态孤子,在短波长和长波长方向上的正常色散区均产生了可观的色散波.在2 W的平均功率下得到了550 nm到1700 nm的超连续谱.此外,光纤的同轴双芯特性也导致了入射脉冲的模式转换.实验结果和数值计算十分符合.     

Build-up of supercontinuum in heated and unheated photonic crystal fibers using a chirped femtosecond laser

The build-up of supercontinuum in a photonic crystal fiber (PCF) has been investigated experimentally as a function of pump power using chirped 100-fs pulses from a Ti:sapphire laser. As compared with the PCF at room temperature, a new blue-shifted spectral component is observed in the initial steps of supercontinuum (SC) generation when the central part of PCF is heated to 120 °C by a hot plate. In addition, the slope efficiency of SG is slightly improved with the slightly extension of supercontinuum spectrum in blue edge at high pump powers. The change in dispersion property as well as the effective cascading of nonlinear photonic crystal fibers for heated PCF would be the main attributions.     

利用Kagome光纤实现多芯光子晶体光纤的输出合束

多芯光纤的输出光束只能在远场和焦点附近实现良好的同相位超模合束,这种超模传输特性大大影响了多芯光纤的应用范围.一种新型中空Kagome光纤为解决这一难题提供了可行的方案,利用中空Kagome光纤可以实现七芯光纤输出模式的整形合束.本文利用中心波长800 nm的钛宝石飞秒激光作为激光源,耦合入七芯非线性光子晶体光纤,得到700 nm至1050 nm的展宽光谱,并实现同相位超模输出.随后,将非线性展宽之后的宽谱七芯光束耦合至Kagome光子晶体光纤中,从Kagome光纤输出光斑呈高斯分布的模式传输,不再演变回七芯模式,耦合效率71%.实验还进一步验证此方法适用于不同结构的多芯光纤,为多芯光纤在高功率激光等领域的应用提供了参考.     

Methodology of splicing large air filling factor suspended core photonic crystal fibres

We report the methodology of effective low-loss fusion splicing a photonic crystal fibre (PCF) to itself as well as to a standard single mode fibre (SMF). Distinctly from other papers in this area, we report on the results for splicing suspended core (SC) PCF having tiny core and non-Gaussian shape of guided beam. We show that studied splices exhibit transmission losses strongly dispersive and non-reciprocal in view of light propagation direction. Achieved splicing losses, defined as larger decrease in transmitted optical power comparing both propagation directions, are equal to 2.71 ±0.25 dB, 1.55 ±0.25 dB at 1550 nm for fibre SC PCF spliced to itself and to SMF, respectively.     

20 W all fiber supercontinuum generation from picosecond MOPA pumped photonic crystal fiber

An all fiber high power supercontinuum (SC) source is demonstrated by pumping a section of photonic crystal fiber (PCF) with a picosecond MOPA laser. The core of the PCF is enlarged at the input end through a serious of PCF post processing method to match the output fiber of the picosecond laser, to ensure low loss splicing, hence high power operation of the whole system. The supercontinuum output spectrum covers the wavelength range from 650 nm to beyond 1700 nm. Limited by available pump power, 20 W super-continuum output power is obtained under 29.5 W picosecond pump power, giving a high optical to optical conversion efficiency of 67.8%.