Pierre-Yves Bony

Mid-infrared 2000-nm bandwidth supercontinuum generation in suspended-core microstructured Sulfide and Tellurite optical fibers

In this work, we report the experimental observation of supercontinua generation in two kinds of suspended-core microstructured soft-glass optical fibers. Low loss, highly nonlinear, tellurite and As2S3 chalcogenide fibers have been fabricated and pumped close to their zero-dispersion wavelength in the femtosecond regime by means of an optical parametric oscillator pumped by a Ti:Sapphire laser. When coupled into the fibers, the femtosecond pulses result in 2000-nm bandwidth supercontinua reaching the Mid-Infrared region and extending from 750 nm to 2.8 µm in tellurite fibers and 1 µm to 3.2 µm in chalcogenide fibers, respectively.

Optical flip–flop memory and data packet switching operation based on polarization bistability in a telecommunication optical fiber

We report the experimental observation of bistability and hysteresis phenomena of the polarization signal in a telecommunication optical fiber. This process occurs in a counterpropagating configuration in which the optical beam nonlinearly interacts with its own Bragg-reflected replica at the fiber output. The proof of principle of optical flip–flop memory and 10  Gbit/s routing operation is also reported based on this polarization bistability. Finally, we also provide a general physical understanding of this behavior on the basis of a geometrical analysis of an effective model of the dynamics. Good quantitative agreement between theory and experiment is obtained.

Temporal spying and concealing process in fibre-optic data transmission systems through polarization bypass

Recent research has been focused on the ability to manipulate a light beam in such a way to hide, namely to cloak, an event over a finite time or localization in space. The main idea is to create a hole or a gap in the spatial or time domain so as to allow for an object or data to be kept hidden for a while and then to be restored. By enlarging the field of applications of this concept to telecommunications, researchers have recently reported the possibility to hide transmitted data in an optical fibre. Here we report the first experimental demonstration of perpetual temporal spying and blinding process of optical data in fibre-optic transmission line based on polarization bypass. We successfully characterize the performance of our system by alternatively copying and then concealing 100% of a 10-Gb s−1 transmitted signal.

Fast and Chaotic Fiber-Based Nonlinear Polarization Scrambler

We report a simple and efficient all-optical polarization scrambler based on the nonlinear interaction in an optical fiber between a signal beam and its backward replica which is generated and amplified by a reflective loop. When the amplification factor exceeds a certain threshold, the system exhibits a chaotic regime in which the evolution of the output polarization state of the signal becomes temporally chaotic and scrambled all over the surface of the Poincaré sphere. We numerically derive some design rules for the scrambling performances of our device which are well confirmed by the experimental results. The polarization scrambler has been successfully tested on a 10-Gb/s On/Off Keying Telecom signal, reaching scrambling speeds up to 500-krad/s, as well as in a wavelength division multiplexing configuration. A different configuration based on a following cascade of polarization scramblers is also discussed numerically, which leads to an increase of the scrambling performances.

Polarization domain walls in optical fibres as topological bits for data transmission

Domain walls are topological defects which occur at symmetry-breaking phase transitions. While domain walls have been intensively studied in ferromagnetic materials, where they nucleate at the boundary of neighbouring regions of oppositely aligned magnetic dipoles, their equivalent in optics have not been fully explored so far. Here, we experimentally demonstrate the existence of a universal class of polarization domain walls in the form of localized polarization knots in conventional optical fibres. We exploit their binding properties for optical data transmission beyond the Kerr limits of normally dispersive fibres. In particular, we demonstrate how trapping energy in well-defined train of polarization domain walls allows undistorted propagation of polarization knots at a rate of 28 GHz along a 10 km length of normally dispersive optical fibre. These results constitute the first experimental observation of kink-antikink solitary wave propagation in nonlinear fibre optics.

Fast polarization scrambler based on chaotic dynamics in optical fibers

We report a polarization scrambler based on the nonlinear interaction in optical fibers between a forward beam and its backward replica amplified by a reflective-loop. The output polarization exhibits a fast chaotic dynamics and was tested on a 10-Gbit/s signal.

[INVITED] Self-induced polarization tracking, tunneling effect and modal attraction in optical fiber

Abstract In this paper, we report the observation and exploitation of the capability of light to self-organize its state-of-polarization, upon propagation in optical fibers, by means of a device called Omnipolarizer. The principle of operation of this system consists in a counter-propagating four-wave mixing interaction between an incident signal and its backward replica generated at the fiber output thanks to a reflective fiber loop. We have exploited this self-induced polarization tracking phenomenon for all-optical data processing and successfully demonstrated the spontaneous repolarization of a 40-Gbit/s On–Off keying optical signal without noticeable impairments. Moreover, the strong local coupling between the two counter-propagating waves has also revealed a fascinating aspect of the Omnipolarizer called polarization-based tunneling effect. This intrinsic property enables us to instantaneously let “jump” a polarization information onto the reflected signal, long before the expected time-of-flight induced by the round-trip along the fiber span. Finally, we discuss how the concept of self-organization could be generalized to multimode fibers, which paves the way to new important applications in the framework of spatial-mode-multiplexing.

All-Optical Signal Processing Based on Self-Induced Polarization Control in Optical Fibers

In this contribution, we review our recent progress on the all-optical control of the state-of-polarization of light in optical fibers upon propagation in a system called Omnipolarizer. More precisely, in this device we exploit the unexpected capability of light to self-organize its own state-of-polarization, upon propagation in optical fibers, into universal and environmentally robust states. The underlying physical mechanism consists in a nonlinear cross-polarization feedback interaction between an arbitrary polarized incident signal and its own counter-propagating replica generated at the fiber end by means of a reflective element. Depending on the power ratio between the two waves, e.g., the reflective coefficient, this nonlinear self-repolarization phenomenon offers a rich variety of dynamics for which we have highlighted three main working regimes identified by first a bistable operating regime, a polarization alignment process as well as a genuine chaotic behavior. We have fully characterized these three operating regimes with an excellent agreement between numerical and experimental results. Moreover, beyond the fundamental aspect of these first studies, we have then exploited this self-induced repolarization phenomenon in order to implement several proof-of-principles for all-optical signal processing. In particular, we have successfully demonstrated the spontaneous repolarization of a 10-Gb/s return-to-zero optical signal without noticeable impairments. The bistability and associated hysteresis properties of the Omnipolarizer have been also exploited to implement an optical flip-flop memory as well as a 10-Gb/s polarization-based data packet router. Finally, we have taken advantage of the chaotic dynamics of our device to demonstrate an all-optical scrambler enabling truly chaotic polarization diversity for 10-Gb/s on/off keying wavelength division multiplexing applications.

All-optical polarization control for telecom applications

We describe a phenomenon of self-organization of the light state-of-polarization in optical fibers based on a nonlinear cross-polarization interaction between an incident signal and its backward replica. Several proof-of-principles for telecom applications are reported.

Nonlinear Polarization Manipulation in Optical Fibers

We describe a phenomenon of self-organization of the light state-of-polarization in optical fibers based on a nonlinear cross-polarization interaction between an incident signal and its backward replica. Several proof-of-principles for telecom applications are reported.