Cladding Photonic Crystal Fiber Research Articles

Multiphoton microscopy system with a compact fiber‐based femtosecond‐pulse laser and handheld probe

We report on the development of a compact multiphoton microscopy (MPM) system that integrates a compact and robust fiber laser with a miniature probe. The all normal dispersion fiber femtosecond laser has a central wavelength of 1.06 μm, pulse width of 125 fs and average power of more than 1 W. A double cladding photonic crystal fiber was used to deliver the excitation beam and to collect the two-photon signal. The hand-held probe included galvanometer-based mirror scanners, relay lenses and a focusing lens. The packaged probe had a diameter of 16 mm. Second harmonic generation (SHG) images and two-photon excited fluorescence (TPEF) images of biological tissues were demonstrated using the system.

Off-axis pumping of a photonic crystal fiber laser

We present a new method for free space pumping of double-clad photonic crystal fiber lasers and amplifiers. The method is based on off-axis injection of the pump beam, exploiting the relatively high numerical aperture of the photonic crystal fiber cladding. It prevents feedback from the laser into the pump source, does not require any special treatment to the fiber, and could lead to a more compact resonator. Experimental results with the new pumping method show improved laser performance.

Fiber-based microendoscopic multiphoton imaging

We developed a multiphoton microscope which integrates an all normal dispersion fiber laser, a double cladding photonic crystal fiber and a MEMS mirror scanner based hand-held probe. The fiber laser has a central wavelength of 1.06um,a repetition rate of 76MHz and maximum average output power of more than 1W. The MEMS mirror based probe is compact and Second harmonic generation and two photon excited fluorescence images of biological sample were demonstrated.

Performance of Distributed Fiber Raman Amplifier Based on Hybrid Cladding Photonic Crystal Fiber

This article presents a feasibility study for using a hybrid cladding photonic crystal fiber as a distributed fiber Raman amplifier based transmission link with negligible confinement losses and flattened dispersion characteristics. The simulation results clearly indicate that a bit error rate of 10−9 can be maintained at the end of a (4 × 170)-km distributed fiber Raman amplifier link operating with 40 Gbps and 0.6 dBm transmit power if 20 dBm of pump power is used for each span.

Emergence of Geometrical Optical Nonlinearities in Photonic Crystal Fiber Nanowires

We demonstrate analytically and numerically that a subwavelength-core dielectric photonic nanowire embedded in a properly designed photonic crystal fiber cladding shows evidence of a previously unknown kind of nonlinearity (the magnitude of which is strongly dependent on the waveguide parameters) which acts on solitons so as to considerably reduce their Raman self-frequency shift. An explanation of the phenomenon in terms of indirect pulse negative chirping and broadening is given by using the moment method. Our conclusions are supported by detailed numerical simulations.

Widely tunable femtosecond solitonic radiation in photonic crystal fiber cladding

We report on a means to generate tunable ultrashort optical pulses. We demonstrate that dispersive waves generated by solitons within the small-core features of a photonic crystal fiber cladding can be used to obtain femtosecond pulses tunable over an octave-wide spectral range. The generation process is highly efficient and occurs at the relatively low laser powers available from a simple Ti:sapphire laser oscillator. The described phenomenon is general and will play an important role in other systems where solitons are known to exist.

Dispersion characteristic of a new hybrid cladding photonic crystal fiber

Based on multi-pole method theory, a kind of hybrid cladding photonic crystal fiber（PCF） is designed. It has been shown theoretically that it is possible to obtain fiattened dispersion charactor of dispersion absolute value 125 ps·km-1·nm-1 within the wave band of 144 μm to 20 μm by altering four structure parameters of the five-ring hybrid cladding in the PCF (namely the diameter of the inner ring hole, the diameter of the outer four ring holes, the pitch of the hexagon and the pitch of the octagon). Moreover, value simulation results show that in the PCF low confinement loss of 0005 dB/km in the 144—20 μm wavelength range can be achieved.

Tailoring nonlinearity and dispersion of photonic crystal fibers using hybrid cladding

We present a hybrid cladding photonic crystal fiber for shaping high nonlinear and flattened dispersion in a wide range of wavelengths. The new structure adopts hybrid cladding with different pitches, air-holes diameters and air-holes arrayed fashions. The full-vector finite element method with perfectly matched layer is used to investigate the characteristics of the hybrid cladding photonic crystal fiber such as nonlinearity and dispersion properties. The influence of the cladding structure parameters on the nonlinear coefficient and geometric dispersion is analyzed. High nonlinear coefficient and the dispersion properties of fibers are tailored by adjusting the cladding structure parameters. A novel hybrid cladding photonic crystal fiber with high nonlinear coefficient and dispersion flattened which is suited for supercontinuum generation is designed.

Tailoring Dispersion and Confinement Losses of Photonic Crystal Fibers Using Hybrid Cladding

We present a hybrid cladding photonic crystal fiber (PCF) for shaping nearly zero ultraflattened dispersion and low confinement losses in a wide range of wavelengths. The finite difference method with anisotropic perfectly matched boundary layer is used to investigate the guiding properties. It has been shown theoretically that it is possible to obtain nearly zero ultraflattened dispersion of 0 plusmn0.25 mups/nm/km in a wavelength range of 1.44 to 2.0 mum with low confinement losses less than 0.005 dB/km within the entire band of interest from a five-ring hybrid cladding PCF.

Study of the sensitivity of gas sensing by use of index-guiding photonic crystal fibers

We demonstrate an absorption transmission spectrum of CH(4) in a 16.9 cm long index-guiding photonic crystal fiber (PCF) fabricated in our laboratory. One of the main factors to improve the sensitivity is to increase the fraction of power in PCF cladding air holes. We study the fraction of power in PCF cladding air holes as a function of the index-guiding PCF parameters. We found that a PCF with small spacing and a large air-filling ratio has a higher fraction of power in its cladding air holes. At the same time the mode area in this PCF is small and would generate strong nonlinear effects in the fiber. If we use a PCF in which the core is formed by missing seven air holes, it is immediately obvious that the PCF used as a sensor has higher sensitivity and a larger mode area.

Identification of Bloch-modes in hollow-core photonic crystal fiber cladding

We report on the experimental visualization of the cladding Bloch-modes of a hollow-core photonic crystal fiber. Both spectral and spatial field nformation is extracted using the approach, which is based on measurement of the near-field and Fresnel-zone that results after propagation over a short length of fiber. A detailed study of the modes near the edges of the band gap shows that it is formed by the influence of three types of resonator: the glass interstitial apex, the silica strut which joins the neighboring apexes, and the air hole. The cladding electromagnetic field which survives the propagation is found to be spatially coherent and to contain contributions from just a few types of cladding mode.

Design of defect-core in highly birefringent photonic crystal fibers with anisotropic claddings

The influence of defect-core on the birefringence and confinement losses of rectangular-lattice photonic crystal fibers are investigated numerically by applying the multipole method. Numerical results illustrate that the birefringence in such fibers is determined not only by the arrangement of air holes in the cladding but also the shape of the core. It is found that asymmetry of the core represented by its rectangular shape implies a higher effective index of the mode that is parallel with the longer side of the rectangle, whereas the anisotropic rectangular-lattice cladding gives rise to just the opposite effect and thus the resulting birefringence can be controlled by a proper combinations of both mechanisms. In particular, effect of the asymmetry of the core on the birefringence is dominant for shorter wavelength. Increased birefringence and reduced confinement loss can be achieved, if we form the core by the omission of several air holes in a row to reduce its negative effect on the birefringence. On the other hand, when asymmetry is increased in the other direction, a negative birefringence at shorter wavelength can be achieved. This occurs due to the fact that asymmetry of the core at higher frequencies overcomes the effect of the asymmetric cladding. As a result, its possible to achieve zero birefringence in anisotropic cladding photonic crystal fiber with an asymmetric core.