Jean-Louis Auguste

Design of dispersion-compensating fibers based on a dual-concentric-core photonic crystal fiber.

A photonic crystal fiber based on a particular periodic arrangement of airholes and pure silica is designed for chromatic dispersion compensation. A two-concentric-core structure is obtained by introducing two different sizes of capillaries (for the airholes) and exhibits very high negative chromatic dispersion [-2200 ps/(nm km) at 1550 nm]. The variation of optogeometric parameters is also investigated to evaluate the tolerance of the fabrication. Finally, the bending influence on the modal characteristics shows that it is possible to tune the phase-matching wavelength over the C band by adjusting the diameter of the fiber.

Stimulated Raman scattering in an ethanol core microstructured optical fiber

We show that high efficiency stimulated Raman scattering can be obtained using hollow core photonic crystal fiber with the core filled with a low refractive index nonlinear liquid. This new architecture opens new perspectives in the development of nonlinear functions as any kind of nonlinear liquid media can now be used to implement them, with original properties not accessible with silica core fibers.

Three-hole microstructured optical fiber for efficient fiber Bragg grating refractometer

We present a photosensitive three-hole microstructured optical fiber specifically designed to improve the refractive index sensitivity of a standard fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensor photowritten in the suspended Ge-doped silica core. We describe the specific photowriting procedure used to realize gratings in such a fiber. We then determine their spectral sensitivity to the refractive index changes of material filling the holes surrounding the core. The sensitivity is compared with that of standard FBGs photowritten in a six-hole fiber with a larger core diameter. We demonstrate an improvement in the sensitivity by two orders of magnitude and reach a resolution of 3 x 10(-5) and 6 x 10(-6) around mean refractive index values of 1.33 and 1.40, respectively.

Simplified hollow-core photonic crystal fiber.

A simplified design inspired from kagomé-lattice fiber reduced to one layer of air-holes was proposed demonstrating the anti-resonant core guiding capability. Two large low-loss windows were measured (minimum attenuation <0.2dB/m) with acceptable infrared bend losses.

Ultra wide band supercontinuum generation in air-silica holey fibers by SHG-induced modulation instabilities.

Second harmonic generation in an air-silica microstructured optical fiber pumped by subnanosecond pulses is used in order to initiate modulation instability processes in normal and anomalous dispersion regimes. This allows us to generate an ultra wide and flat supercontinuum (350-1750 nm), covering the entire transparency window of silica and exhibiting a singlemode transverse profile in visible range.

Theoretical and experimental analysis of a chromatic dispersion compensating module using a dual concentric core fiber

New designs of optical fibers are widely used in dispersion compensating module (DCM) inserted in optical links to improve the bit rate. Dual concentric core fibers (DCCFs) can exhibit a very large negative dispersion coefficient and a large figure of merit well suited for DCM applications. However, these fibers intrinsically propagate two supermodes. So a selective injection of the mode of the central elementary guide of DCCF can be realized by the input connection with a single-mode fiber to obtain a negative dispersion. In this paper, we demonstrate theoretically and confirm experimentally the impact of this particular injection. The complete association of a DCCF connected on each end with single-mode fibers, corresponding at a DCM, is studied. A new definition of the chromatic dispersion (CD) for a DCM based on the phase delay method is established. The corresponding curve presents two symmetric maxima and becomes null at the phase matching wavelength. Experimental verification is presented and the influence of the optogeometrical parameters on the evolution of the CD is also discussed.

Highly sensitive SERS detection and quantification of sialic acid on single cell using photonic-crystal fiber with gold nanoparticles

An ultrasensitive surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) based sensing platform was developed to detect the mean sialic acid level on the surface of single cell with sensitivity as low as 2 fmol. This platform adopted the use of an interference-free Raman tag, 4-(dihydroxyborophenyl) acetylene (DBA), which selectively binds to sialic acid on the cell membrane. By loading the side channel of a photonic crystal fiber with a mixture of gold nanoparticles and DBA-tagged HeLa cell, and subsequently propagating laser light through the central solid core, strong SERS signal was obtained. This SERS technique achieved accurate detection and quantification of concentration of sialic acid on a single cell, surpassing previously reported methods that required more than 10(5) cells. Moreover, this platform can be developed into a clinical diagnostic tool to potentially analyze sialic acid-related diseases such as tumor malignancy and metastasis in real-time.

Millijoule laser pulse delivery for spark ignition through kagome hollow-core fiber

We report on power handling oriented design of kagome lattice hollow-core fiber and demonstrate through it for the first time nanosecond laser pulses induced spark ignition in a friendly manner. Two different core designs and transmission bands are investigated and evaluated. The energy threshold damage was measured to be in excess of the 10 mJ level and the output power density is approaching the TW/cm2 after focusing; demonstrating the outstanding ability of such fiber for high power delivery.

Broadband terahertz transmission within the air channel of thin-wall pipe

We report broadband transmissions of terahertz radiations through the air channel of thin-wall pipe. The impacts of the wall thickness and of the refractive index of the material on the transmission window bandwidth are investigated. An extension of the bandwidth by at least 5.5 times is reported with a commercial drinking straw. The salient properties of the antiresonant reflecting guiding mechanism are studied with the terahertz time domain spectroscopy method, including the reduction of the attenuation coefficient of the propagated field by 60 times the material absorption coefficient.

Highly dispersive large mode area photonic bandgap fiber.

An all-silica photonic bandgap fiber composed of a low-index core surrounded by alternating high- and low-index rings allows us to achieve a large mode area (500 microm(2)) and large chromatic dispersion. Sharp resonances from the even Bragg mode to odd ring modes theoretically lead to 20,000 ps/(nm km) chromatic dispersion when large bends are applied. By nature, sharp resonances are sensitive to inhomogeneities along the fiber length. Under experimental conditions, the resonances are broadened and the dispersion coefficient is decreased to 1000 ps/(nm km). However, to the best of our knowledge, this is the largest dispersion coefficient reported using a large mode area fiber.