Raman effect in birefringent optical fibers

Raman gain control in optical fibers with orbital-angular-momentum-induced chirality of light

Stimulated Raman scattering is a particularly robust nonlinearity, occurring in virtually every material because its spectral linewidth and associated frequency shift do not typically depend on phases or directions (i.e. wavevectors) of the interacting light beams. In amorphous materials such as glass fibers, Raman bandwidths are large, enabling its use as a broadband gain element. This ubiquity makes it a versatile means for achieving optical amplification or realizing lasers over a large range of pulsewidths at user-defined colors. However, this ease of deploying the effect also presents itself as a stubborn source of noise in fiber-based quantum sources or parasitic emission in fiber lasers. Here, we show that orbital angular momentum carrying light beams experiencing spin-orbit interactions yield novel phase-matching criteria for Raman scattering. This enables tailoring its spectral shape (by over half the Raman shift in a given material) as well as strength (by ∼ 100×) simply by controlling light's topological charge - a capability of utility across the multitude of applications where modulating Raman scattering is desired.

Description of the suppression of the soliton self-frequency shift by bandwidth-limited amplification

A perturbation study of the suppression of the soliton self-frequency shift by the bandwidth-limited optical amplification is proposed. The stability of the equilibrium point for the soliton amplitude and velocity identified by the adiabatic approximation of the soliton perturbation theory (SPT) is analyzed by a numerical solution of a linearized system in the neighborhood of the equilibrium point. The obtained analytical expressions for the eigenvalues of the linearized system allow the determination of the values of pulse and material parameters for which the equilibrium point is stable. A perturbation approach that leads to the research of the equation of strongly nonlinear Duffing-Van der Pol oscillator is suggested. The last equation is explored by two different methods. First, the recently obtained results for this equation by the hyperbolic perturbation method are used. Next, the hyperbolic Lindstedt-Poincare perturbation method is applied to the exploration of this equation. The equilibrium velocity of the perturbed stationary solution was calculated as a critical value of the control parameter in both methods. It turned out that the coupling of the equilibrium velocity and the amplitude of the perturbed stationary solution in both methods is similar to the relation between the soliton amplitude and velocity derived by the adiabatic approximation of SPT. The change in the form of the perturbed stationary solution has also been identified by means of the hyperbolic Lindstedt-Poincare perturbation method.

Wideband amplification using orthogonally polarized pulse trapping in birefringent fibers

We analyzed the amplification effect of orthogonally polarized pulse trapping in birefringent fibers both experimentally and numerically. Trapped pulses were amplified over a wide wavelength range of 1650-1800 nm accompanying the red-shift. The maximum effective gain was 26 dB for a 140 m-long low birefringent fiber. It was clarified that this amplification effect is caused by stimulated Raman scattering between orthogonally polarized pulses.

Numerical study of the Raman effect and its impact on soliton-dragging logic gates

Recent experiments in birefringent optical fibers in which a signal pulse in one polarization is used to switch a control pulse in another polarization are affected by the Raman self-frequency shift. These experiments are modeled numerically, with the experimentally measured Raman profiles used as input to the simulations. Both parallel and perpendicular Raman gain are kept. The effect of keeping the full Raman response rather than just an often-used linear approximation is discussed. The experimental results are in good agreement with theory, although some discrepancies exist. The possibility that these discrepancies could be due to errors in the measurements of the low-frequency portion of the perpendicular Raman gain is examined and ruled out. Other possible sources of this discrepancy are then discussed.