Generation of broadband cascaded four-wave mixing products pumped in the anomalous dispersion regimes

Abstract

We investigate and report on a highly efficient technique to generate broadband cascaded four-wave mixing (CFWM). It consists of launching a high peak power pulse signal and a relatively weak continuous wave (CW) signal into photonic crystal fibers (PCFs) with pulse pumping in the anomalous dispersion regimes. CFWM products with the broadest bandwidth centered at 1 μm are achieved, with the bandwidth spanning from 800 to 1500 nm. Experimental and numerical results demonstrate that the wavelength ranges of CFWM largely depend on the spectral ranges when only pulse pumping in PCFs. PCFs with zero dispersion wavelengths (ZDWs) near the pulse wavelength show the advantages of CFWM generation with higher intensity peaks in the anti-Stokes direction, while PCFs with ZDWs far away from the pumping wavelength have the potential to generate CFWM peaks towards the Stokes direction.