Circular lattice benzene-core PCFs with flat near-zero dispersion for low-power broad-spectrum supercontinuum generation

Abstract

A circular photonic crystal fiber infiltrated with benzene with different air-hole diameters is proposed as a new supercontinuum light source. Optical properties related to dispersion, effective mode area, nonlinear coefficient, and attenuation of the fundamental mode are investigated numerically. Two optimized structures are selected and verified against supercontinuum generation (SCG) in detail. The first structure (#F1) possesses all-normal dispersion, while the second (#F2) has a zero-dispersion wavelength. The possibility of coherent, octave-spanning SCG is proved by a 40 fs pulse, 1.064 μm wavelength, and 0.45 kW of power in-coupled into the core of #F1. Otherwise, injecting a 90 fs duration, 1.5 μm wavelength, and 0.555 kW peak power pump pulse into #F2 generates a broad SC spanning 0.76–4.23 μm. With the advantages of flat near-zero dispersion, high nonlinearity, low attenuation, and low input power used for SCG, the proposed fibers may lead to new low-cost all-fiber optical systems.