T.M. Monro

A tunable, femtosecond pulse source operating in the range 1.06-1.33 microns based on an Yb doped holey fiber amplifier

Summary form only given. Wavelength tunable femtosecond optical pulse sources have applications in areas as diverse as ultrafast spectroscopy, materials processing, optoelectronics, nonlinear optics and optical chemistry. In the past, such sources have been available only in limited wavelength ranges and were realized using solid state lasers with complex, high precision cavities. More recently, the soliton self frequency shift (SSFS) in silica fibers has been exploited to obtain tunable femtosecond pulses; tuning from 1.55-2.2 /spl mu/m was previously reported in conventional silica fiber, and tuning from 1.3-1.6 /spl mu/m has been demonstrated using tapered microstructured fiber. Here we report what we believe is the first demonstration of a continuously tunable soliton source in the wavelength range 1.06-1.33 /spl mu/m, a wavelength range that is difficult to access using conventional solid state laser technology. The system is based on diode pumped Yb/sup 3+/ doped silica fiber components, and operates at mW average input power levels in a 4.7 m length of fiber.

A 36-channel x 10-GHz spectrally sliced pulse source based on supercontinuum generation in normally dispersive highly nonlinear holey fiber

We demonstrate a spectrally sliced pulse source which utilizes supercontinuum generated in a normally dispersive holey fiber and spectral slicing in an arrayed waveguide grating. All 36 10-GHz channels exhibit almost constant pulsewidth and excellent noise properties, as verified by bit-error-rate measurements.

Holey fibers: new possibilities for guiding and manipulating light

The wavelength-scale features in holey fibers lead to novel properties including endlessly single-mode guidance and anomalous dispersion below 1.3 /spl mu/m. Fundamental concepts and recent progress are reviewed, ranging from fabrication and modelling to devices and applications.

A robust, large air fill fraction holey fibre

Summary form only given. Holey fibres have an array of holes around the core which run along the entire length of the fibre. This reduces the effective index of the cladding and provides the light guiding mechanism. This new type of fibre offers a wide range of unique optical properties which make them of great interest for a wide range of applications including telecommunications and sensing. We report the fabrication of externally-clad holey fibre produced in a two stage drawing process. A borosilicate glass outer cladding was added to a conventional silica capillary stack containing 55 capillaries and that had been pre-drawn to appropriate dimensions. The resulting composite structure was then pulled into a glass-clad holey fibre of /spl sime/250 pm outer diameter, and coated with conventional polymer coating. The additional strength provided by the two coatings allowed longer lengths of fibre to be produced, with larger air holes than previously possible, and made the fibre easy to handle. To date /spl ges/50 m lengths have been produced, but kilometre lengths could be produced without modifying the procedure. We believe this to be a significant step in the development of truly useful and practical holey fibre structures.

Nonlinear pulse compression, dispersion compensation, and soliton propagation in holey fiber at 1 micron

We fabricated a single mode, polarization maintaining, highly non-linear, 125 micron silica jacketed, holey fiber with anomalous dispersion at 1.06 micron. Nonlinear pulse compression and soliton propagation are demonstrated (1.06 micron, Yb3+ source) with just 1 mW average power.

Highly efficient all-glass double-clad ytterbium doped holey fiber laser

Summary from only given. We present a highly efficient single-mode all-glass double-clad ytterbium doped HF laser and show that HF technology allows versatile designs for cladding pumped fibers. A technique for achieving single-mode operation in HFs while incorporating with active dopants is also discussed. Under CW operation, the power conversion efficiency is measured to be more than 80%, which is comparable to the best conventional ytterbium doped fiber lasers. Furthermore, Q-switching and mode-locking operation of this fiber laser is demonstrated.

Holey fibers for nonlinear fiber devices

The wavelength-scale features in holey fibers lead to novel properties including endlessly single-mode guidance, high optical nonlinearity per unit length, and anomalous dispersion below 1.3µm. Such properties are useful for a wide range of nonlinear fiber devices.

Nonlinearily in holey optical fibres

We discuss recent experimental results concerning the use of microstructured optical fibres as novel nonlinear media. Continuum generation, short wavelength soliton propagation and optical frequency comb generation have been obtained thanks to a combination of unusual dispersive properties and the small mode area available in holey fibres.

A lead silicate holey fiber with /spl gamma/=1860 W/sup -1/km/sup -1/ at 1550 nm

We report the fabrication of lead silicate holey fibers with record nonlinearities of up to 1860 W/sup -1/m/sup -1/ at 1.55 /spl mu/m. Broadband supercontinuum generation is obtained in a dispersion optimized fiber variant at /spl sim/100 pJ pulse energies for 1.06 /spl mu/m pumping.

Realistic designs of silica hollow-core bandgap fibers free of surface

By systematically studying feasible silica PBGFs core structures we identify new designs regimes that robustly eliminate the presence of surface modes. New realistic fibers designs with a fundamental mode free of anticrossings at all frequencies within the bandgap are proposed