Raman amplification characteristics of As2Se3 photonic crystal fibers

We present the dispersion and Raman amplification characteristics of As2Se3 photonic crystal fibers (PCFs). We compare the gain characteristics with conventional As2Se3 fibers and find that the Raman gain efficiency in PCFs can be improved by a factor of more than 4. This allows us to either use a small length of the fiber or to use the low pump power to attain similar gain characteristics. Numerical simulations reveal that a peak gain of 10 dB can be achieved in a 1.1 m long PCF when it is pumped at 1.5 microm in wavelength with an input power of 500 mW.