A novel hollow-core holey fibre with random hole distributions in the cladding

We provide a novel hollow-core holey fibre that owns a random distribution of air holes in the cladding. Our experiments demonstrate that many of the features previously attributed to photonic crystal fibres with perfect arrangement of air holes, in particular, photonic bandgap guidance, can also be obtained in the fibre. Additionally, this fibre exhibits a second guided mode with both the two-lobe patterns, and each pattern is in different colour.

Continuous-wave and passively mode-locked Yb : GYSO lasers pumped by diode lasers

We report both continuous-wave and passively mode-locked laser actions in a Yb3+-doped gadolinium yttrium oxyorthosilicate Yb:GdySiO(5) (Yb:GYSO) crystal. Continuous-wave (CW) laser operations were compared under different pump conditions with high-power diodes of different wavelengths and fiber cores. CW mode-locking was obtained with a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror.

Diode laser pumped, KERR phase-shifting and switching of a diode laser signal in a small area optical fibre

In this paper authors report the first demonstration of a diode laser powered Kerr effect device, consisting of a single birefringent fiber, able to phase-shift and switch an optical signal generated by a second laser diode. They have obtained fast, stable phase-shifting of 90° in a single fiber, at a coupled pump power of only 20 mW. Using this phase shift to induce polarization switching with resultant gating, 25% modulation of the diode laser signal has been observed, with a detection limited-rise time of 10ns.

Nanotube-based passively mode-locked Ytterbium-pumped Raman laser

Over the past decades mode-locked fibre lasers have been extensively refined and developed, with most research efforts focussing on employing rare-earth doped fibres as the active elements [1]. This presents the problem that operation is limited to regions of the spectrum where such elements exhibit gain [1]. Raman amplification in silica fibre is an attractive way to overcome this spectral limitation, with gain available across the entire transparency window (300 nm - 2300 nm) [2-4]. There have been a number of reports utilising Raman gain in ultrashort pulse sources [2-4], however none using a broadband saturable absorber, such as carbon nanotubes [5-7] and graphene [7-9]. A broadband saturable absorber is an essential pre-requisite in order to fully exploit the wavelength flexibility provided by the Raman gain in short pulse mode-locked fiber lasers. © 2011 IEEE.

Mid-infrared Raman-soliton continuum pumped by a nanotube-mode-locked sub-picosecond Tmdoped MOPFA

We demonstrate a mid-infrared Raman-soliton continuum extending from 1.9 to 3 μm in a highly germanium-doped silica-clad fiber, pumped by a nanotube mode-locked thulium-doped fiber system, delivering 12 kW sub-picosecond pulses at 1.95 μm. This simple and robust source of light covers a portion of the atmospheric transmission window. © 2013 Optical Society of America.

Mode multiplexing at 2×20Gbps over 19-cell hollow-core photonic band gap fibre

This paper demonstrates the first mode-multiplexed system over 19-cell hollow-core photonic band gap fibre, at 2×20Gbps using the LP0,1 and LP2,1-like modes. © 2012 OSA.

Fast and effective analysis methods for fiber Raman amplifiers

A series of new single-step methods and their corresponding algorithms with automatic step size adjustment for model equations of fiber Raman amplifiers are proposed and compared in this paper. On the basis of the Newton-Raphson method, multiple shooting algorithms for the two-point boundary value problems involved in solving Raman amplifier propagation equations are constructed. A verified example shows that, compared with the traditional Runge-Kutta methods, the proposed methods can increase the accuracy by more than two orders of magnitude under the same conditions. The simulations for Raman amplifier propagation equations demonstrate that our methods can increase the computing speed by more than 5 times, extend the step size significantly, and improve the stability in comparison with the Dormand-Prince method. The numerical results show that the combination of the multiple shooting algorithms and the proposed methods has the capacity to rapidly and effectively solve the model equations of multipump Raman amplifiers under various conditions such as co-, counter- and bi-directionally pumped schemes, as well as dual-order pumped schemes.

All-optical switching application of germano-silicate optical fiber incorporated with Ag nanocrystals

银纳米晶体掺杂的高非线性石英光纤的全光转换应用

Yb3+-doped 200 mu m diameter core, gain guided index-antiguided fiber

The lasing in an end-pumped gain guided index-antiguided (GG-IAG) Yb3+-doped silicate glass fiber with a 200 mu m diameter core is demonstrated. Laser beams with similar beam propagation factors M (2) and mode field diameters W (0) (> 160 mu m) were observed at the output end of the GG-IAG fibers under different pump powers, which indicated that single mode behavior and excellent beam quality were achieved during propagation. Furthermore, the laser amplifier characteristics in the present Yb3+-doped GG-IAG fiber were also evaluated.

Design of Topas photonic bandgap fiber with high birefringence and low confinement loss

A highly birefringent hollow-core photonic bandgap fiber based on Topas cyclic olefin copolymer is designed. The rhombic hollow-core with rounded corners is formed by omitting four central air holes of the cladding structure. The guided modes, birefringence and confinement loss of the fiber are investigated by using the full-vector finite element method. A high phase birefringence of the order of 10(-3), a group birefringence of the order of 10(-2) and confinement loss less than 0.1 dB/km are obtained at the central wavelength (1.55 mu m) range of the bandgap for fiber with seven rings of air holes in the cladding region. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Hollow core photonic crystal fibre as a viscosity and Raman sensor

This PhD thesis investigates the application of hollow core photonic crystal fibre for use as an optical fibre nano litre liquid sensor. The use of hollow core photonic crystal fibre for optical fibre sensing is influenced by the vast wealth of knowledge, and years of research that has been conducted for optical waveguides. Hollow core photonic crystal fibres have the potential for use as a simple, rapid and continuous sensor for a wide range of applications. In this thesis, the velocity of a liquid flowing through the core of the fibre (driven by capillary forces) is used for the determination of the viscosity of a liquid. The structure of the hollow core photonic crystal fibre is harnessed to collect Raman scatter from the sample liquid. These two methods are integrated to investigate the range of applications the hollow core photonic crystal fibre can be utilised for as an optical liquid sensor. Understanding the guidance properties of hollow core photonic crystal fibre is forefront in dynamically monitoring the liquid filling. When liquid is inserted fully or selectively to the capillaries, the propagation properties change from photonic bandgap guidance when empty, to index guidance when the core only is filled and finally to a shifted photonic bandgap effect, when the capillaries are fully filled. The alterations to the guidance are exploited for all viscosity and Raman scattering measurements. The concept of the optical fibre viscosity sensor was tested for a wide range of samples, from aqueous solutions of propan-1-ol to solutions of mono-saccharides in phosphate buffer saline. The samples chosen to test the concept were selected after careful consideration of the importance of the liquid in medical and industrial applications. The Raman scattering of a wide range of biological important fluids, such as creatinine, glucose and lactate were investigated, some for the first time with hollow core photonic crystal fibre.

White-Light Supercontinuum Generation with 60-ps Pump Pulses in a Photonic Crystal Fiber

The generation of a spatially single-mode white-light supercontinuum has been observed in a photonic crystal fiber pumped with 60-ps pulses of subkilowatt peak power. The spectral broadening is identified as being due to the combined action of stimulated Raman scattering and parametric four-wave-mixing generation, with a negligible contribution from the self-phase modulation of the pump pulses. The experimental results are in good agreement with detailed numerical simulations. These findings demonstrate that ultrafast femtosecond pulses are not needed for efficient supercontinuum generation in photonic crystal fibers. © 2001 Optical Society of America.

Characterization of rhodamine 6G doped polymer optical fiber by side illumination fluorescence

The length-dependent tuning of the fluorescence spectra of a dye doped polymer fiber is reported. The fiber is pumped sideways and the fluorescence is measured from one of the ends. The excitation of a finite length of dye doped fiber is done by a diode pumped solid state laser at a wavelength of 532 nm. The fluorescence emission is measured at various positions of the fiber starting from a position closer to the pumping region and then progressing toward the other end of the fiber. We observe that the optical loss coefficients for shorter and longer distances of propagation through the dye doped fiber are different. At longer distances of propagation, a decrease in optical loss coefficient is observed. The fluorescence peaks exhibit a redshift of 12 nm from 589 to 610 nm as the point of illumination progresses toward the detector end. This is attributed to the self-absorption and re-emission of the laser dye in the fiber.

Side illumination fluorescence emission characteristics from a dye doped polymer optical fiber under two-photon excitation.

Two-photon excited (TPE) side illumination fluorescence studies in a Rh6G-RhB dye mixture doped polymer optical fiber (POF) and the effect of energy transfer on the attenuation coefficient is reported. The dye doped POF is pumped sideways using 800 nm, 70 fs laser pulses from a Ti:sapphire laser, and the TPE fluorescence emission is collected from the end of the fiber for different propagation distances. The fluorescence intensity of RhB doped POF is enhanced in the presence of Rh6G as a result of energy transfer from Rh6G to RhB. Because of the reabsorption and reemission process in dye molecules, an effective energy transfer is observed from the shorter wavelength part of the fluorescence spectrum to the longer wavelength part as the propagation distance is increased in dye doped POF. An energy transfer coefficient is found to be higher at shorter propagation distances compared to longer distances. A TPE fluorescence signal is used to characterize the optical attenuation coefficient in dye doped POF. The attenuation coefficient decreases at longer propagation distances due to the reabsorption and reemission process taking place within the dye doped fiber as the propagation distance is increased.

Multimode laser emission from dye doped polymer optical fiber

Multimode laser emission is observed in a polymer optical fiber doped with a mixture of Rhodamine 6G (Rh 6G) and Rhodamine B (Rh B) dyes. Tuning of laser emission is achieved by using the mixture of dyes due to the energy transfer occurring from donor molecule (Rh 6G) to acceptor molecule (Rh B). The dye doped poly(methyl methacrylate)-based polymer optical fiber is pumped axially at one end of the fiber using a 532 nm pulsed laser beam from a Nd:YAG laser and the fluorescence emission is collected from the other end. At low pump energy levels, fluorescence emission is observed. When the energy is increased beyond a threshold value, laser emission occurs with a multimode structure. The optical feedback for the gain medium is provided by the cylindrical surface of the optical fiber, which acts as a cavity. This fact is confirmed by the mode spacing dependence on the diameter of the fiber.