Arrangement of fiber pieces for a wide wavelength conversion range by fiber four-wave mixing

Optimization and characterization of highly nonlinear fiber for broadband optical time lens applications

We demonstrate simple and intuitive methods, for dispersion optimization and characterization of highly nonlinear fiber (HNLF) for use in four-wave-mixing (FWM) based time lens applications. A composite dispersion-flattened HNLF is optimized for high bandwidth time lens processing, by segmentation to mitigate FWM impairments due to dispersion fluctuations. The fiber is used for FWM conversion of 32 WDM-channels with 50 GHz spacing in a time lens, with -4.6 dB total efficiency, and <1 dB per-channel efficiency difference. The novel characterization method is based on two tunable continuous-wave lasers. The method is experimentally verified to predict the spectral output profile of time lenses for broadband multicarrier input, with detailed numerical simulations for support.

12 THz flat gain fiber optical parametric amplifiers with dispersion varying fibers

We report a fiber-optic parametric amplifier with ultra-broad and flat gain band by using a longitudinally tailored optical fiber. The parametric amplifier has been designed from realistic numerical simulations combined with an inverse algorithm to obtain a flat and wide gain band through fiber dispersion management. We experimentally report ~12 THz gain bandwidth on the Stokes side of the pump with a gain ripple as low as 7 dB and a mean gain up to ~60 dB. Experimental results show good agreement with numerical predictions for different pump powers and wavelength detuning.

Detailed study of four-wave mixing in Raman DFB fiber lasers

We both experimentally and numerically studied the ultra-compact wavelength conversion by using the four-wave mixing (FWM) process in Raman distributed-feedback (R-DFB) fiber lasers. The R-DFB fiber laser is formed in a 30 cm-long commercially available Ge/Si standard optical fiber. The internal generated R-DFB signal acts as the pump wave for the FWM process and is in the normal dispersion range of the fiber. Utilizing a tunable laser source as a probe wave, FWM frequency conversion up to ~40 THz has been demonstrated with conversion efficiency > -40 dB. The principle of such a wide bandwidth and high conversion efficiency in such a short R-DFB cavity has been theoretically analyzed. The simulation results match well with the experimental data.

Ultra-broadband fiber optical parametric amplifier pumped by chirped pulses

We numerically and experimentally demonstrate ultra-broadband fiber optical parametric amplification in a microstructured fiber pumped by stretched short pulses. The chirped pump pulse induces a temporally spread spectral gain suitable for optical parametric chirped pulse amplification in fibers. Numerical simulation shows ~45  dB flat gain with more than 70 nm bandwidth, allowing sub-35 fs pulse amplification around 1 μm with reduced gain narrowing. This amplification principle is experimentally confirmed by measuring the instantaneous spectral gain band and related chirp.

Four-wave mixing stability in hybrid photonic crystal fibers with two zero-dispersion wavelengths

The four-wave mixing process in optical fibers is generally sensitive to dispersion uniformity along the fiber length. However, some specific phase matching conditions show increased robustness to longitudinal fluctuations in fiber dimensions, which affect the dispersion, even for signal and idler wavelengths far from the pump. In this paper, we present the method by which this point is found, how the fiber design characteristics impact on the stable point and demonstrate the stability through propagation simulations using the non-linear Schrödinger equation.

High-gain fiber, optical-parametric, chirped-pulse amplification of femtosecond pulses at 1 μm

Fiber-based optical-parametric chirped-pulse amplification is reported at 1μm in a microstructured fiber in the femtosecond regime. The signal has been highly stretched by an Öffner triplet and then amplified with an all-fiber, pulsed-pump, fiber optical-parametric amplifier. More than 30dB gain has been achieved over 8.3nm, and the amplified signal has been recompressed.

Method for effectively utilizing tunable one-pump fiber parametric wavelength converters as an enabling device for WDM routers

In this paper a method is proposed to maximize the bandwidth of the WDM router based on one-pump fiber parametric wavelength converters. It is proved that for such converters there exists an optimum signal (idler) frequency at which the output (input) tuning range can be maximized. Analytical expressions of the optimum frequency and the maximal tuning range are deduced. Then a two-stage bidirectional wavelength conversion method is proposed. With this method the bandwidth of the WDM router based on such a converter can be significantly improved compared to the one-stage ones by 252% if ordinary highly nonlinear fibers are used or 390% if fibers with optimal fourth order dispersion are used.