FWM minimization in WDM optical communication systems using the asymmetrical dispersion-managed fibers

Four wave mixing (FWM) induced power penalty is investigated theoretically for asymmetrical dispersion-managed fibers in wavelength division multiplexing (WDM) systems. The power penalty in these fibers is analyzed for various values of channel spacing, maximum dispersion and number of sections in different channels. Using numerical simulations, it is illustrated that the FWM induced power penalty is minimized for the case of two fiber sections with unequally special lengths and symmetrical dispersion values.     

Effects of frequency/polarization allocations and the zero-dispersion frequency on FDM lightwave transmission systems

In long-haul frequency-division-multiplexing lightwave transmission systems, transmission characteristics are degraded by four-wave mixing (FWM) generated in optical fibers. To overcome this problem, several FWM suppression techniques have been reported. In this paper, dependence of FWM noises on frequency allocations, polarization allocations, and the zero-dispersion frequency is investigated. It is revealed that FWM noises are drastically decreased in frequency allocations such as equally spaced, repeated unequally spaced (RUS), equally spaced RUS, and unequally spaced RUS allocations by arranging polarization allocations of the channels with an increase in a separation between the channel frequencies and the zero-dispersion frequency.     

非均匀零色散波长光纤中的四波混频效率

本文讨论了光纤零色散波长的离散对光纤中四波混频效率的影响,导出了多段均匀零色散波长光纤输出的四波混频光波强度的表达式,进而对该式进行了推广,导出了一般情况下的表达式.最后我们对几种具体情形进行了计算.计算结果表明当光纤的零色散波长存在漂移时,光纤中四波混频效率显著降低.而且光纤零色散波长漂移的幅度和分布规律以及泵浦光波长的选取对光纤四波混频效率也有重要影响.     

Enhanced four-wave mixing in a hollow-core photonic-crystal fiber

Hollow-core photonic-crystal fibers are shown to substantially enhance four-wave mixing (FWM) of laser pulses in a gas filling the fiber core. Picosecond pulses of Nd:YAG fundamental radiation and its second harmonic are used to generate a signal at the frequency of the third harmonic by the FWM process 3omega = 2omega + 2omega - omega. The efficiency achieved for this process in a 9-cm-long, 13-microm-hollow-core-diameter photonic-crystal fiber, designed to simultaneously transmit a two-color pump and the FWM signal, is shown to be approximately 800 times higher than the maximum FWM efficiency attainable with the same laser pulses in the tight-focusing regime.     

Effects of frequency and polarization allocations on FDM lightwave transmission systems

In long-haul frequency-division-multiplexing (FDM) lightwave transmission systems, transmission characteristics are degraded by four-wave mixing (FWM) generated in optical fibers. To overcome this problem in equally spaced (ES) allocation, modified repeated unequally spaced (RUS) allocations such as equally spaced RUS (ERUS) and unequally spaced RUS (URUS) allocations have been already examined. Also, it has been shown that FWM noises are decreased by arranging the polarization states of the channels. In this paper, dependence of FWM noises on frequency allocations and polarization allocations is investigated. It is revealed that FWM noises are decreased in ES, RUS, ERUS, and URUS with alternating polarization allocations of the channels, and FWM noises are drastically reduced when light polarizations are perpendicularly crossed at both sides of the zero dispersion frequency.     

Enhancement of multiple four-wave mixing via cascaded fibers with discrete dispersion decreasing

Cascaded fiber geometry with the dispersion of each fiber decreasing is proposed to enhance the multiple four-wave mixing(FWM) generation. The first fiber with relatively large dispersion initiates and accelerates the expansion of multiple FWM, and the second fiber with small dispersion would allow the phase-matching process(thus the spectrum broadening)to keep going. Numerical and experimental results show that with this geometry not only multiple FWM expansion can be accelerated, but also the efficiency of multiple FWM products can be effectively improved with shorter fibers.     

Influence of modulation formats on FWM noises in FDM optical fiber transmission systems

In long-haul frequency-division-multiplexing (FDM) lightwave transmission systems, transmission characteristics are degraded by four-wave mixing (FWM) in optical fibers. To overcome this problem in equally-spaced (ES) allocations, modified repeated unequally-spaced (RUS) allocations such as equally-spaced RUS (ERUS) and unequally-spaced RUS (URUS) allocations have been already examined.In this paper, we focus on the fact that FWM noises are closely related to modulation formats and frequency allocations. To reduce FWM noises in FDM optical fiber transmission systems, FWM noises are analyzed for ES, RUS, ERUS, and URUS with modulation formats such as non-return-to-zero (NRZ), random return-to-zero (RZ), differential phase-shift keying (DPSK), and bit-phase arranged RZ (BARZ). It is found that FWM noises are lowest in URUS with BARZ.     

Reduction of fiber-nonlinearity-enhanced amplifier noise by means of phase-sensitive amplifiers

In optical fiber transmission systems near the zero-dispersion wavelength that use in-line erbium-doped fiber amplifiers (EDFA's), the enhancement of optical amplifier noise caused by four-wave mixing (FWM) in transmission fibers degrades signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) excessively. We theoretically show that the enhancement of amplifier noise by the FWM in transmission fibers can be effectively eliminated by implementing in-line phase-sensitive amplifiers (PSA's). Small-signal analysis of the nonlinear Schr?dinger equation shows that the transmission distance limited by the SNR of an in-line PSA system is expanded four times more than that of an in-line EDFA system.     

Control of four-wave mixing phase-matching condition using the Brillouin slow-light effect in fibers

All-optical control of the phase-matching condition in four-wave mixing (FWM) processes is demonstrated using the Brillouin slow-light effect in optical fibers. A counterpropagating stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) pump has been used to control the phase velocity of the FWM pump in a wavelength conversion scheme. Both experimental results and theoretical simulations show an SBS-controlled 20 dB difference on the wavelength conversion efficiency.     

长脉冲抽运光子晶体光纤四波混频和超连续谱的理论研究

本文数值研究了长脉冲抽运光子晶体光纤四波混频和超连续谱的产生.依据准连续波近似下的相位匹配条件和能量守恒定律,能够理论上确定在光子晶体光纤正常色散区抽运时,四波混频效应产生的信号光和空闲光波长;以及在光纤反常色散区抽运时,调制不稳现象产生的两个对称旁瓣波长.利用自适应分步傅里叶法,定量地模拟了利用波长为1064 nm的亚纳秒激光器抽运两种不同色散特性的光子晶体光纤四波混频效应和超连续谱的产生,模拟结果与实验结果符合非常好. 关键词： 光子晶体光纤 超连续谱 四波混频 自适应分步傅里叶法     

基于光纤四波混频波长转换和色散的慢光实验研究

对基于光纤四波混频（FWM）波长转换和色散的慢光实现进行了详细和系统的实验研究.首先,实验测定了高非线性光纤中FWM带宽约为40 nm,从而确定了慢光的可调谐带宽;接着,在普通单模光纤和色散补偿光纤（DCF）中针对500 MHz正弦信号和100 ps短脉冲信号分别实现了34和198 ns的脉冲延迟,在DCF中还实现了209 ns的脉冲提前.讨论了增大延迟量的方法,指出随着宽带FWM波长转换的实现和大色散光纤的应用有望获得微秒量级的大延迟量,从而为高性能光纤延迟线和全光缓存器等应用提供支持. 关键词： 慢光 四波混频 色散     

Use of multimode optical fibers for fiber-based coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering microendoscopy imaging

A multimode fiber (MMF) was used for both delivery of excitation lasers and collection of returned coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) signals in a CARS microendoscopy prototype imaging system. We demonstrated a polarization-based scheme for suppression of four-wave mixing (FWM) signals in delivery fibers. Our experimental results showed that this polarization-based FWM-suppressing scheme can dramatically reduce FWM signals generated in MMFs, and MMFs can be used to produce CARS images in this microendoscopy system. The proposed MMF-based CARS microendoscopy imaging system with the polarization-based FWM-suppressing scheme offers a potential platform for building fiber-based CARS microendoscopes that can effectively suppress FWM background noises.     

Four-wave mixing with large stokes shifts in heavily Ge-doped silica fibers

Four-wave mixing (FWM) in nonlinear germanosilicate fibers with GeO2 concentrations as high as 67 mol.% in the core is studied theoretically and experimentally. Large frequency shifts of 1875-3829 cm(-1) are observed in the mixed-mode pump parametric process. The dependence of FWM phase matching on the GeO2 concentration, core diameter, and index profile is demonstrated. The 2.5% conversion efficiency of an 887 nm signal to a 1.3 microm communication band is obtained at a 2 W cw pump power inside the fiber.     

All-optical wavelength multicasting based on cascaded four-wave mixing with a single pump in highly nonlinear fibers

We theoretically present and experimentally demonstrate all-optical wavelength multicasting based on cascaded four-wave mixing (FWM) in highly nonlinear fibers only using a single pump. The cascaded FWM effect is analyzed based on the sum amplitude method, which overcomes the limitation of the number of analyzed idlers, and the performance of the wavelength multicasting is evaluated. By using a continuous wave pump and a pulse train as the signal, multiple-order idlers are experimentally generated and the patterns of 6 multicasting channels are measured. Regardless of the dynamic region of the tunable filter, this method has the potential to realize more multicasting channels, especially when higher pump and signal powers are used.     

基于光纤四波混频效应的新型组播方法

组播是波长路由光通信网络中的一项重要功能.提出并实验实现了基于高非线性光纤四波混频效应的全光组播方法,将一束载有数据的输入信号光和一束抽运光一起入射到一段高非线性光纤中,通过两个简并四波混频过程产生了两个携带该数据信息的闲频光,从而实现了单一信号的两信道组播,同时抽运光也会受到数据信息的调制.该方法的优点在于组播的实现只需要单一的抽运光源,而不需要再提供其他输入光,结构简单,组播光信号功率均匀、波长可调,并且具有进一步增加组播信道的能力. 关键词： 组播 四波混频 高非线性光纤     

Power-independent technique to extract the dispersion parameters of an optical fiber using four wave mixing

Conventional methods which extract dispersion parameters of an optical fiber using four wave mixing rely on the measurement of optical power in the generated wavelengths, and hence are prone to measurement errors. We propose and demonstrate a power-independent method to extract the dispersion curve of a fiber using four wave mixing (FWM). The analytical equations that have been traditionally used to estimate the phase mismatch in FWM are modified to cater to low-dispersion fibers, and are verified. Experiments to obtain the dispersion curve of a low-dispersion and highly nonlinear fiber are discussed and the results are analyzed. Limitations of any FWM-based method to extract the dispersion curve of a fiber are presented for the first time.     

Quantum mechanics of phase-sensitive amplification in a fiber

In a recent paper [C.J. McKinstrie, S. Radic, Opt. Express 12 (2004) 4973], four schemes were described, which produce phase-sensitive amplification in fibers: Degenerate scalar and vector four-wave mixing (FWM), and phase conjugation (PC) combined with frequency conversion (FC), in either order. In this paper, the basic quantum mechanics of these schemes are discussed. For each scheme, formulas are derived for the field-quadrature and photon-number variances. The effects of polarization misalignment on vector FWM, and the effects of unbalanced conversion on PC combined with FC, are studied. Moderate amounts of these imperfections do not degrade significantly the performances of the aforementioned schemes.     

All-optical up-conversion for 2.5-Gb/s signals in ROF systems based on FWM effect in HNLF

We propose and demonstrate experimentally a novel scheme to realize all-optical up-conversion and wavelength-conversion based on the bi-directional-pump four-wave mixing （FWM） effect in high nonlinear fibers （HNLFs）.The pump is generated with optical carrier suppression in a Mach-Zehnder modulator.The two pumps are always parallel and phase-locked.A balance-detection photo-detector for optical signal detection is employed with 3-dB improvement in power penalty.The 2.5-Gb/s signals are transmitted successfully over the 25-km single-mode fiber in 30-GHz radio over fiber （ROF） systems.     

Four-wave mixing of picosecond pulses in hollow fibers: Phase matching and the influence of high-order waveguide modes

The processes of third-harmonic and difference-frequency generation through the four-wave mixing of picosecond pulses in gas-filled hollow fibers are experimentally studied. Due to the improvement of phase-matching conditions with an appropriate choice of the gas pressure and optimal parameters of the hollow fiber, we were able to use hollow fibers with a large length (up to 30 cm) for difference-frequency generation, which resulted in a considerable increase in the power of the difference-frequency signal at the output of the fiber. Our experimental data reveal a considerable influence of high-order waveguide modes on four-wave mixing processes in a hollow fiber. It is shown that the waveguide regime of nonlinear optical interactions implemented in hollow fibers removes the limitations on the efficiency of third-harmonic and sum-frequency generation, which are characteristic of the tight-focusing regime in media with normal dispersion and which are due to the geometric phase shift arising in tightly focused light beams.     

Optimum design of low-loss hollow OmniGuide fibers

The confinement-loss characters of hollow OmniGuide fibers (OGFs) are investigated. The OGFs with different cross-section geometric parameters have been analyzed with the aim of finding how parameters (such as core radius, thickness and number of cladding layer) are responsible for the fabricated low-loss hollow OGFs. It is shown that hollow OGFs can uniquely access less confinement loss unavailable to conventional Bragg fibers. We also derive the formulas for core radius, thickness and number of cladding layers. These results would be helpful for optimization designs and applications of low-loss hollow OGFs.