Recirculating configuration all-optical wavelength conversion by self-phase modulation in a highly nonlinear photonic crystal fiber

Abstract

A novel architecture of all-optical wavelength conversion in a highly nonlinear bismuth oxide-based photonic crystal fiber (PCF) is demonstrated. Self-phase modulation is utilized to induce spectral broadening for the all-optical wavelength converter. A recirculating configuration is designed to obtain the twice spectral broadening. Therefore, wavelength conversion is achieved. The design and the simulation of PCF are demonstrated. The desired dispersion properties can be tailored by the parameters of bismuth oxide (Bi₂O₃) PCF microstructure. The propagation loss at 1550nm is about 0.8dB/m. The simulation results of PCF indicate the relationship of the effective index of the fundamental mode, the mode effective area and the holes pitch of PCF. The nonlinear coefficient is expected to be 1100W^-1km^-1 by using bismuth oxide-based glass and reducing the effective core area. The mode-field diameter of PCF is estimated to be 1.98μm and the predicted small effective core area is 3.3μm². The design of Bi₂O₃-based PCF and the intermediate high numerical aperture fibers between Bi₂O₃-based PCF and single-mode fibers are considered to reduce the splicing loss. The obtained results show that the wavelength converter has a potential of wide conversion bandwidth, high response time, simple configuration and low insertion loss etc.