Four-wave mixing and octave-spanning supercontinuum generation in a small core hydrogenated amorphous silicon fiber pumped in the mid-infrared

Recent progress of semiconductor optoelectronic fibers

Semiconductor optoelectronic fiber technology has seen rapid development in recent years thanks to advancements in fabrication and post-processing techniques. Integrating the optical and electronic functionality of semiconductor materials into a fiber geometry has opened up many possibilities, such as in-fiber frequency generation, signal modulation, photodetection, and solar energy harvesting. This review provides an overview of the state-of-the-art in semiconductor optoelectronic fibers, including fabrication and post-processing methods, materials and their optical properties. The applications in nonlinear optics, optical-electrical conversion, lasers and multimaterial functional fibers will also be highlighted.

Low-loss silicon core fibre platform for mid-infrared nonlinear photonics

Broadband mid-infrared light sources are highly desired for wide-ranging applications that span free-space communications to spectroscopy. In recent years, silicon has attracted great interest as a platform for nonlinear optical wavelength conversion in this region, owing to its low losses (linear and nonlinear) and high stability. However, most research in this area has made use of small core waveguides fabricated from silicon-on-insulator platforms, which suffer from high absorption losses of the use of silica cladding, limiting their ability to generate light beyond 3 µm. Here, we design and demonstrate a compact silicon core, silica-clad waveguide platform that has low losses across the entire silicon transparency window. The waveguides are fabricated from a silicon core fibre that is tapered to engineer mode properties to ensure efficient nonlinear propagation in the core with minimal interaction of the mid-infrared light with the cladding. These waveguides exhibit many of the benefits of fibre platforms, such as a high coupling efficiency and power handling capability, allowing for the generation of mid-infrared supercontinuum spectra with high brightness and coherence spanning almost two octaves (1.6-5.3 µm).

Multi-octave mid-infrared supercontinuum and frequency comb generation in a suspended As2Se3 ridge waveguide

In this paper, we numerically investigate the mid-infrared supercontinuum (SC) generation in a suspended ${{\rm As}_2}{{\rm Se}_3}$As₂Se₃ ridge waveguide, which is designed with the two zero-dispersion wavelengths. Simulation results show that when the pump pulses at wavelength 3.3 µm with width of 100 fs and peak power of 900 W are launched into the anomalous dispersion region of the designed waveguide with a length of 0.87 mm, the SC can be generated in the wavelength range from 1.76 to 14.42 µm (more than three octaves), extending deep into the "fingerprint" region. The stability of the generated SC is confirmed by the first-order coherence. Moreover, we demonstrate the performance of the SC-based frequency comb by assuming a 50 pulse pump source at a repetition rate of 100 MHz.

Long-term stable supercontinuum generation and watt-level transmission in liquid-core optical fibers

Due to their unique properties such as transparency, tunability, nonlinearity, and dispersion flexibility, liquid-core fibers represent an important approach for future coherent mid-infrared light sources. However, the damage thresholds of these fibers are largely unexplored. Here we report on the generation of soliton-based supercontinua in carbon disulfide (CS₂) liquid-core fibers at average power levels as high as 0.5 W operating stably for a long term (>70  h) without any kind of degradation or damage. Additionally, we also show stable high-power pulse transmission through liquid-core fibers exceeding 1 W of output average power for both CS₂ and tetrachloroethylene as core materials.

Octave-spanning coherent supercontinuum generation in silicon on insulator from 1.06 μm to beyond 2.4 μm

Efficient complementary metal-oxide semiconductor-based nonlinear optical devices in the near-infrared are in strong demand. Due to two-photon absorption in silicon, however, much nonlinear research is shifting towards unconventional photonics platforms. In this work, we demonstrate the generation of an octave-spanning coherent supercontinuum in a silicon waveguide covering the spectral region from the near- to shortwave-infrared. With input pulses of 18 pJ in energy, the generated signal spans the wavelength range from the edge of the silicon transmission window, approximately 1.06 to beyond 2.4 μm, with a -20 dB bandwidth covering 1.124-2.4 μm. An octave-spanning supercontinuum was also observed at the energy levels as low as 4 pJ (-35 dB bandwidth). We also measured the coherence over an octave, obtaining , in good agreement with the simulations. In addition, we demonstrate optimization of the third-order dispersion of the waveguide to strengthen the dispersive wave and discuss the advantage of having a soliton at the long wavelength edge of an octave-spanning signal for nonlinear applications. This research paves the way for applications, such as chip-scale precision spectroscopy, optical coherence tomography, optical frequency metrology, frequency synthesis and wide-band wavelength division multiplexing in the telecom window.

Comprehensive analysis of passive generation of parabolic similaritons in tapered hydrogenated amorphous silicon photonic wires

Parabolic pulses have important applications in both basic and applied sciences, such as high power optical amplification, optical communications, all-optical signal processing, etc. The generation of parabolic similaritons in tapered hydrogenated amorphous silicon photonic wires at telecom (λ ~ 1550 nm) and mid-IR (λ ≥ 2100 nm) wavelengths is demonstrated and analyzed. The self-similar theory of parabolic pulse generation in passive waveguides with increasing nonlinearity is presented. A generalized nonlinear Schrödinger equation is used to describe the coupled dynamics of optical field in the tapered hydrogenated amorphous silicon photonic wires with either decreasing dispersion or increasing nonlinearity. The impacts of length dependent higher-order effects, linear and nonlinear losses including two-photon absorption, and photon-generated free carriers, on the pulse evolutions are characterized. Numerical simulations show that initial Gaussian pulses will evolve into the parabolic pulses in the waveguide taper designed.

Octave-spanning supercontinuum generation in hybrid silver metaphosphate/silica step-index fibers

We reveal the potential of step-index fibers consisting of a metaphosphate glass core and a silica cladding as an ultrafast octave-spanning supercontinuum source. The hybrid waveguide was fabricated by pressure-assisted melt filling and possesses a sophisticated dispersion behavior with two zero-dispersion points in the proximity of the Erbium laser bands. The fiber generates an octave-spanning supercontinuum from 0.7 to 2.4 μm if pumped at 1.56 μm with 30 fs pulses and energies as low as 300 pJ. Numerical simulations reveal soliton fission and double dispersive wave generation as the dominant broadening effect. This study highlights phosphate glasses as a promising new candidate for the next generation of broadband photonic devices, as they allow for high rare earth-doping levels and dispersion posttuning via plasmonic nanoparticle growth.

Single mode criterion - a benchmark figure to optimize the performance of nonlinear fibers

Optical fibers with sub-wavelength cores are promising systems for efficient nonlinear light generation. Here we reveal that the single-mode criterion represents a convenient design tool to optimize the performance of nonlinear fibers circumventing intense numerical calculations. We introduce a quasi-analytic expression for the nonlinear coefficient allowing us to investigate its behavior over a large parameter range. The study is independent of the actual value of the material nonlinearity and shows the fundamental dependencies of the nonlinear coefficient on wavelength, refractive index and core diameter, elucidated by detailed case studies of fused silica and chalcogenide tapers and hybrid fibers.

Supercontinuum generation in strip/slot hybrid waveguide with flat and low dispersion

A strip/slot hybrid waveguide with double horizontal silicon nanocrystals slots is proposed to achieve flat and low dispersion with four zero dispersion wavelengths. By tuning structural parameters of the waveguide, dispersion tailoring is fully characterized. The flat dispersion varying between -13 and 14  ps/(nm·km) is obtained over an 845 nm bandwidth. A broadband supercontinuum spectrum, spanning from 1.15 to 3.65 μm in the -15  dB level, was generated in this waveguide pumped by a femtosecond pulse at 1.86 μm. Results indicate that the waveguide has great potential in near- and mid-infrared nonlinear applications.

Generation of coherent supercontinuum in a-Si:H waveguides: experiment and modeling based on measured dispersion profile

Hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a:Si-H) has recently been recognized as a highly nonlinear CMOS compatible photonic platform. We experimentally demonstrate the generation of a supercontinuum (SC) spanning over 500 nm in a-Si:H photonic wire waveguide at telecommunication wavelengths using femtosecond input pulse with energy lower than 5 pJ. Numerical modeling of pulse propagation in the waveguide, based on the experimentally characterized dispersion profile, shows that the supercontinuum is the result of soliton fission and dispersive wave generation. It is demonstrated that the SC is highly coherent and that the waveguides do not suffer from material degradation under femtosecond pulse illumination. Finally, a direct comparison of SC generation in c-Si and a-Si:H waveguides confirms the higher performances of a-Si:H over c-Si for broadband low power SC generation at telecommunication wavelengths.