Study of raman amplification properties in triangular photonic crystal fibers

Abstract

The Raman properties of triangular photonic crystal fibers (PCFs) are analyzed in order to design a fiber for Raman amplification with enhanced performances. By casting the Raman intensity propagation equations, the Raman effective area and the Raman gain coefficient are introduced - two meaningful parameters that take into account the overlap between the pump and signal profiles. The behavior of these two parameters is examined in silica PCFs as a function of the geometrical characteristics of the triangular lattice. The numerical results show that a proper design of the hole diameter and the spacing between air holes can minimize the Raman effective area and maximize the Raman gain coefficient. The paper then focuses on PCFs with a germania-doped core. It is found that, for a given PCF cross section and dimension of the doped region, the Raman gain coefficient increases linearly with germania concentration. Moreover, by enlarging the doped region, it is discovered that a PCF with a germania-doped area internally tangent to the first ring of air holes has a maximum Raman gain coefficient. Finally, the calculated values of the Raman gain coefficient are compared with those of other highly nonlinear fibers presented in the literature, showing that a well-designed triangular PCF can significantly improve Raman gain performance.