Design and fabrication of Panda-type erbium-doped polarization-maintaining fibres

To obtain the stable operation of erbium-doped fibre laser, the simple and ideal technology is adopted by use of the erbium doped polarization maintaining fibre (EDPMF). The design criteria of the Panda-type EDPMF are presented, which take into account the cutoff wavelength, mode field diameter, modal birefringence and background loss. Four groups of optimum structural parameter combinations are determined in terms of the design criteria. Two kinds of the Panda-type EDPMFs are selected to be fabricated. The fabrication process and the parameter control of the Panda-type EDPMFs are presented in detail. Their refractive index profiles, birefringence and absorption spectra are experimentally investigated. The absorption coefficient of the EDPMF, whose core is co-doped with Bi, Ga, Al and Ge, is about 57.9dB/m at 1.53\mum. Co-doping Bi, Ga and Al can greatly increase the erbium concentration in the silica-based fibre. The high birefringence is obtained for the Panda-type EDPMF. The group birefringence of the EDPMF, whose outer cladding diameter is 125\mum, is about 4.8\ti10^-4.     

椭圆芯非六角对称高双折射聚合物PCFs

采用全矢量平面波展开法,以聚合物PMMA为基材,研究了椭圆芯非六角对称聚合物光子晶体光纤（Photonic Crystal Fibers,PCFs）的传输模场和偏振特性,从理论上分析了其模式双折射和光纤结构参量的关系.研究结果表明,该PCFs基模的两个正交偏振态不再简并,模场呈现明显的椭圆并具有较强的线偏振特性;另外,该光纤的模式双折射强烈地依赖于光纤的结构参量,通过适当调节光纤的相对孔间距比,有望在给定波长范围内实现更高双折射单模运行.     

Design of defect-core in highly birefringent photonic crystal fibers with anisotropic claddings

The influence of defect-core on the birefringence and confinement losses of rectangular-lattice photonic crystal fibers are investigated numerically by applying the multipole method. Numerical results illustrate that the birefringence in such fibers is determined not only by the arrangement of air holes in the cladding but also the shape of the core. It is found that asymmetry of the core represented by its rectangular shape implies a higher effective index of the mode that is parallel with the longer side of the rectangle, whereas the anisotropic rectangular-lattice cladding gives rise to just the opposite effect and thus the resulting birefringence can be controlled by a proper combinations of both mechanisms. In particular, effect of the asymmetry of the core on the birefringence is dominant for shorter wavelength. Increased birefringence and reduced confinement loss can be achieved, if we form the core by the omission of several air holes in a row to reduce its negative effect on the birefringence. On the other hand, when asymmetry is increased in the other direction, a negative birefringence at shorter wavelength can be achieved. This occurs due to the fact that asymmetry of the core at higher frequencies overcomes the effect of the asymmetric cladding. As a result, its possible to achieve zero birefringence in anisotropic cladding photonic crystal fiber with an asymmetric core.     

Phase and group modal birefringence of an index-guiding photonic crystal fibre with helical air holes

In this paper, we propose a novel photonic crystal fibre (PCF) with high phase birefringence and very low group birefringence. It is composed of a solid silica core and a cladding with helix-pattern air holes. Using a full-vector finite-element method, we study the phase and group modal birefringence of such PCF at various air-hole sizes, pitches and wavelengths. Owing to this innovative structure of air holes, a high phase to group modal birefringence rate is obtained. Its phase modal birefringence is as large as 10⁻⁴ magnitude; however, the group modal birefringence of this PCF is at 10⁻⁷-10⁻⁶. The phase birefringence is 2 orders of magnitude larger than group birefringence over a broad wavelength span, which means that the light with different polarization and effective index has almost a same group velocity. As a result, the group modal birefringence that closely relates to the polarization modal dispersion is negligible.     

A polymer photonic crystal fiber with high and flattened birefringence

A novel high birefringence polymer photonic crystal fiber (PCF) is proposed in this work. This PCF is composed of a polymer core and a cladding with elliptical air holes and squeezed triangular lattice. The high birefringence is introduced on the combined effect of elliptical air holes and the squeezed lattice. Our numerical results based on the supercell lattice method indicate that the birefringence can reach as high as 0.0018 at 650 nm wavelength with a properly designed cladding structure. We also analyze the dependence of the birefringence on structure parameters. And we design a PCF that has high and flattened birefringence.     

Polarization characteristic calculation of three-layer elliptical single-mode fibres

A vector solution is obtained for fields of fundamental modes of an elliptical three-layer optical fibre, which is valid for small ellipticity of boundaries between the layers and for arbitrary differences of core and cladding indices. The modal birefringence is investigated as a function of fibre parameters on the basis of this solution. It is shown that the two-step fibre birefringence is larger than the W-fibre birefringence for equal differences of the core and inner cladding indices. The relationship is inverse for equal differences of the core and outer cladding indices. The correlation between the birefringence value and the effective diameter of the single-mode fibre is discussed.     

Group index dispersion of holey fibres measured by a white-light spectral interferometric technique

We present a new white-light interferometric technique to measure the group index of holey fibres over a wide wavelength range. The technique utilizes an unbalanced Mach–Zehnder interferometer with a fibre under test of known length placed in one of the interferometer arms and the other arm with adjustable path length. In a first step, the differential group index of the fibre is measured over a wide wavelength range. In a second step, the fibre is replaced by the reference sample of known thickness and group dispersion to determine precisely the group index of the fibre at one specific wavelength. The group index as a function of wavelength is measured for two different holey fibres, one made of pure silica glass and the other made of SK222 glass. For both fibres, the wavelength dependence of the group index of the outer cladding and modes supported by the fibre is measured.     

Polarization properties of rectangular lattice photonic crystal fiber

In this paper, polarization properties and propagation characteristics of rectangular lattice photonic crystal fibers with elliptical air-holes are investigated by using the full-vector finite element method with anisotropic perfectly matched layers. Numerical results show that the birefringence of the fiber is induced by asymmetries of the cladding. Moreover, by adjusting its structure parameters, such as the hole pitch Λ, and the air-hole elliptical rate η, we find the optimized design parameters of the fiber with high birefringence (the order of 10⁻²) and limited polarization mode dispersion, operating in a single mode region at an appropriate wavelength range.     

Design and fabrication of triangular inner cladding double-clad ytterbium doped fibre for high power lasers

To improve the performance of double clad high power fibre lasers, inner cladding design plays a significant role. A triangular inner cladding and silica structure second cladding with large air holes go acquire high inner cladding numerical aperture are designed. Single mode and high power output of the fibre lasers need the double clad Yb doped fibre with large core. A fibre with annular refractive index distribution core and low numerical aperture to acquire a large mode area fibre core is designed and fabricated. Furthermore co-doping with aluminium （A1） has been used to improve the solubility of ytterbium （Yb） into silicate network, and the core absorption coefficients of two Yb doped fibres are compared with different A1 concentration experimentally.     

Twin-hollow-core optical fibres

Twin-hollow-core microstructured optical fibres have been fabricated and characterised for the first time. The fibre cladding structure results in guidance by the inhibited coupling mechanism, in which there is a low overlap between the core modes and surrounding structure. This results in minimal interaction between the modes of each core in the transmission bands of the fibre and hence minimal coupling between the cores. It is shown that light is able to couple between the cores via coupling to cladding struts in the high loss wavelength bands.     

Fibre-optic interferometer formed by a section of small-core fibre spliced between standard fibres

A fibre-optic interferometer based on interaction between core and cladding modes that are coupled at splices of fibres having unmatched core mode profiles is demonstrated. The interferometer is formed by splicing a section of small-core fibre that is single-mode at 630 nm between two standard fibres. The transmission spectra of the fibre interferometer are measured for different lengths of the inserted fibre section. The spectra reveal interference fringes having envelopes with two broad dips, whose positions and widths are independent of the interferometer length.     

高双折射纳米结构光子晶体光纤特性研究

设计了一种高双折射高非线性纳米结构光子晶体光纤,利用电磁场散射的多极理论研究了这种光纤的双折射、基模模场、色散以及非线性特性.数值研究发现,加大纤芯及包层空气孔的非对称程度,可使双折射变大,其双折射最大值可达1.918×10-2.通过调节孔节距大小,可将双折射最大值调至所需波长处,孔节距为400nm的纳米光子晶体光纤在800nm波长处非线性系数高达0.2m-1.W-1,同时在750—1000nm的波段有较大的双折射值,高双折射和高非线性在纳米结构光子晶体光纤中实现了完美的结合.对新型纳米光子器件的研制和集成光学的发展具有重要意义.     

矩形点阵微结构聚合物光纤偏振特性研究

采用全矢量平面波方法,以聚合物为基材,研究了矩形点阵微结构聚合物光纤的传输模场和偏振性质.结果发现,矩形点阵微结构聚合物光纤基模两个正交偏振态不再简并,模场呈现类矩形且具有较强的线偏振特性;该光纤模式双折射产生于包层孔结构分布的不对称性,减小包层纵向孔间隔和横向孔间隔之比η值,双折射明显增强,适当调节η,可在更宽频带范围内实现高双折射单模运行.     

Design of temperature-compensated elliptical core birefringent fibres

A new type of temperature compensated birefringent optical fibre is reported. The proposed fibre is designed aiming to minimising the stress birefringence by matching the thermal expansion coefficients between the core and the cladding and maximising the geometric birefringence by increasing the refractive index difference between the core and the cladding and increasing the core ellipticity. The optimum dopant concentrations satisfying the requirements is determined by solving a set of nonlinear algebraic equations. The fibre aimed at satisfying the requirements is fabricated and characterised. The experimental results show that the temperature dependence of the fibre birefringence is 6.97 × 10⁻⁴/°C. Methods of further improvement of the compensation are discussed and an alternative dopant material, titanium, for the improvement is suggested.     

Polarization noise in single mode fibres and its reduction by depolarizers

Fluctuations of the state of polarization in single mode fibres due to environmental conditions such as vibrations cause intensity noise if elements with polarization-dependent loss are inserted into the fibre system. Diffraction gratings, which are key elements for wavelength division multiplex-single mode fibre systems, exhibit a strong polarization dependence of loss. The polarization noise, originating from the combination of single mode fibres and diffraction gratings, is investigated experimentally. A drastic deterioration of the signal/noise ratio is observed, which is even more severe than modal noise with multimode fibres. Depolarizing devices, which reduce this kind of noise sufficiently, are presented and examined.     

Design of Broadband Single Fundamental Mode Hollow Core Bragg Fibre

The condition of the single fundamental mode （HE11） transmission in hollow core Bragg fibres is investigated theoretically by the transfer matrix method. The influences of core size and cladding parameters on the single HE11 mode bandwidth are analysed, showing that the maximal bandwidth is more sensitive to the core size than the cladding. The numerical results show that sufficiently broad bandwidth of single HE11 mode transmission can be achieved by proper fibre design. A simple and fast method based on improved hollow metal waveguide model is proposed to optimize fibre structure parameters for the maximal single HE11 mode bandwidth.     

Analysis of polarization mode dispersion fluctuations in single mode fibres due to temperature

We have studied the effect of temperature on the birefringence and polarization mode dispersion PMD in standard single mode fibre (SSMF) with elliptical core cross section by using numerical computations. On the basis of simulation we have concluded that PMD fluctuates more rapidly than the stress-induced birefringence. In addition, DGD is inversely proportional to temperature.     

Design of Topas microstructured fiber with ultra-flattened chromatic dispersion and high birefringence

A microstructured polymer optical fiber (mPOF) with both ultra-flattened near-zero chromatic dispersion and high birefringence based on Topas cyclic olefin copolymer is designed. Three rings of uniform elliptical air holes are arranged in triangular lattice in the cladding and an extra small defected hole is introduced in the fiber core. Guided modes, dispersion, birefringence and mode confinement properties of the designed mPOF are investigated by using the full-vector finite element method. Dispersion values between ± 0.5 ps/km/nm over the wavelength 1.1-1.7 μm and high birefringence of the order of 10⁻³ are obtained for the optimized fiber structure. Low confinement losses and small effective mode area are obtained at the same time. The relatively simple architecture of the proposed Topas mPOF can be fabricated by our extrusion-stretching techniques.     

填充ENZ材料的太赫兹高双折射及近零平坦色散微结构光纤北大核心CSCD

为了实现太赫兹波的保偏波导传输,设计了一种含有纤芯缺陷孔和椭圆形包层空气孔的高双折射微结构光纤。通过在包层空气孔中选择性地填充太赫兹近零介电常量(epsilon-nearzero,ENZ)材料,引入了几何结构和材料分布的双重不对称性,破坏了2个偏振基模的简并以获得高双折射特性。应用有限元方法研究了光纤的双折射、损耗和色散等传输特性随结构参数的变化规律。在0.5 THz~2 THz的宽频段范围内获得了大于0.01的高双折射。x和y偏振基模的损耗在0.8 THz附近具有最小值,分别为0.903 dB·cm^(-1)和0.851 dB·cm^(-1)。纤芯缺陷孔可以有效调节色散特性,y偏振基模在1 THz~1.8 THz范围内具有(0±0.054)ps·THz^(-1)·cm^(-1)近零平坦色散特性。光纤的传输特性对ENZ材料的折射率变化不敏感。研究结论为研制太赫兹保偏光纤提供了理论参考。     

The rotation of the polarization in low birefringence monomode optical fibres due to geometric effects

Monomode optical fibres of very low intrinsic linear and circular birefringence have been developed for use in polarimetric optical fibre sensors, most notably the fibre optic current sensor. The polarization of light travelling along such fibres is known to be modified by external stress applied to the fibre. In this paper it is shown that the polarization state may also be rotated if the path of the fibre is bent in a nonplanar curve. A theory is developed which enables the effect to be quantified and the results are shown to agree with some measurements on a fibre bent into a helix.