Supercontinuum optimization for dual-soliton based light sources using genetic algorithms in a grid platform.

We present a numerical strategy to design fiber based dual pulse light sources exhibiting two predefined spectral peaks in the anomalous group velocity dispersion regime. The frequency conversion is based on the soliton fission and soliton self-frequency shift occurring during supercontinuum generation. The optimization process is carried out by a genetic algorithm that provides the optimum input pulse parameters: wavelength, temporal width and peak power. This algorithm is implemented in a Grid platform in order to take advantage of distributed computing. These results are useful for optical coherence tomography applications where bell-shaped pulses located in the second near-infrared window are needed.

Multi-peak-spectra generation with Cherenkov radiation in a non-uniform single mode fiber.

We propose, by means of numerical simulations, a simple method to design a non-uniform standard single mode fiber to generate spectral broadening in the form of "ad-hoc" chosen peaks from dispersive waves. The controlled multi-peak generation is possible by an on/off switch of Cherenkov radiation, achieved by tailoring the fiber dispersion when decreasing the cladding diameter by segments. The interplay between the fiber dispersion and the soliton self-frequency shift results in discrete peaks of efficiently emitted Cherenkov radiation from low order solitons, despite the small amount of energy contained in a pulse. These spectra are useful for applications that demand low power bell-shaped pulses at specific carrier wavelengths.

Determination of the Mueller matrix of UV-inscribed long-period fiber grating.

An explicit method for determination of the Mueller matrix elements of a commercial long-period fiber grating inscribed with ultraviolet CW laser irradiation (UV-LPFG) is presented. From the Mueller matrix obtained for such UV-LPFG, the full polarimetric response of the grating was found. Our polarimetric analysis was focused mainly on the polarization-dependent loss and other polarimetric properties, such as the polarizance, the depolarization index, and the diattenuation parameters. The full polarimetric analysis allows us to obtain more complete information than the usually reported ones, in which only two orthogonal linear polarizations are considered; for example, with our analysis, we prove that a small depolarization effect is inherent in UV-LPFG and that attenuation depends on the polarization state. This additional polarimetric information could be useful to control the output LPFG signal, for instance, for the realization of wavelength switchable or Q-switched fiber lasers, among other applications.

Pulse quality analysis on soliton pulse compression and soliton self-frequency shift in a hollow-core photonic bandgap fiber.

A numerical investigation of low-order soliton evolution in a proposed seven-cell hollow-core photonic bandgap fiber is reported. In the numerical simulation, we analyze the pulse quality evolution in soliton pulse compression and soliton self-frequency shift in three fiber structures with different cross-section sizes. In the simulation, we consider unchirped soliton pulses (of 400 fs) at the wavelength of 1060 nm. Our numerical results show that the seven-cell hollow-core photonic crystal fiber, with a cross-section size reduction of 2%, promotes the pulse quality on the soliton pulse compression and soliton self-frequency shift. For an input soliton pulse of order 3 (which corresponds to an energy of 1.69 µJ), the pulse gets compressed with a factor of up to 5.5 and a quality factor of 0.73, in a distance of 12 cm. It also experiences a soliton-self frequency shift of up to 28 nm, in a propagation length of 6 m, with a pulse shape quality of ≈ 0.80.

Compact optical fiber curvature sensor based on concatenating two tapers.

A low-loss, compact, and highly sensitive optical fiber curvature sensor is presented. The device consists of two identical low-loss fused fiber tapers in tandem separated by a distance L. When the optical fiber is kept straight and fixed, no interference pattern appears in the transmitted spectrum. However, when the device is bent, the symmetry of the straight taper is lost and the first taper couples light into the cladding modes. In the second taper, a fraction of the total light guided by the cladding modes will be coupled back to the fundamental mode, producing an interference pattern in the transmitted spectrum. As the fiber device is bent, visibility of the interference fringes grows, reaching values close to 1. The dynamic range of the device can be tailored by the proper selection of taper diameter and separation between tapers. The effects of temperature and refractive index of the external medium on the response of the curvature sensor is also discussed.

Bandpass filter with adjustable bandwidth based on a press-induced long-period twisted holey-fiber grating.

A bandpass filter with adjustable bandwidth based on a press-induced long-period grating in a twisted holey fiber is presented. By twisting the holey fiber prior to the application of periodic pressure, each rejection band of the nontwisted induced long-period grating is split into two shifted rejection bands that move further apart as the twist ratio increases. This feature results in a wide bandpass filter with controllable bandwidth. A bandpass filter at 1523 nm with adjustable bandwidth from 15 to 65 nm with near-linear response and insertion loss lower than 0.7 dB is demonstrated. Additionally, the bandpass filter can be tuned over 100 nm.

Ultra-widely tunable long-period holey-fiber grating by the use of mechanical pressure.

We report an ultra-widely tunable long-period holey-fiber grating, which combines the wide-range single-mode behavior and transverse strain sensitivity of the holey fibers with the advantages of mechanically induced long-period fiber gratings. We obtain a versatile widely tunable long-period holey-fiber grating with attractive transmission spectral characteristics for optical communications, fiber-based amplifiers, and lasers. The mechanically induced long-period holey-fiber grating shows a continuous tuning range over 500 nm, more than 12 dB depth notches with less than 0.75 dB out-of-band losses, and bandwidth control from 10 to 40 nm.

Wavelength tuning of fiber lasers using multimode interference effects.

We report on a novel scheme to fabricate a simple, cheap, and compact tunable fiber laser. The tuning is realized by splicing a piece of single-mode fiber to one end of an active double-clad fiber, while the other end of the single-mode fiber is spliced to a 15 mm long section of 105/125 multimode fiber. The fluorescence signal entering into the multimode fiber will be reproduced as single images at periodic intervals along the propagation direction of the fiber. The length of the multimode fiber is chosen to be slightly shorter than the first re-imaging point, such that the signal coming out from the single mode fiber is obtained in free space, where a broadband mirror retroreflects the fluorescence signal. Since the position of the re-imaging point is wavelength dependent, different wavelengths will be imaged at different positions. Therefore, wavelength tuning is easily obtained by adjusting the distance between the broadband mirror and the multimode fiber facet end. Using this principle, the tunable fiber laser revealed a tunability of 8 nm, ranging from 1088-1097 nm, and an output power of 500 mW. The simplicity of the setup makes this a very cost-effective tunable fiber laser.

Continuous-wave measurement of the fiber nonlinear refractive index.

We propose a technique for measuring the nonlinear refractive index of fiber based on transmission-coefficient measurements in a fiber Sagnac interferometer. In contrast with traditional methods, the proposed method uses a single optical source operating in cw mode and direct intensity measurement, enabling one to avoid the errors caused by fiber dispersion and uncertainty of spectral peak difference measurements that occur with pulse-based methods. The nonlinear refractive index in 20-mol. % GeO(2) fiber was measured to be (3.1 +/- 0.2) x 10(-16) cm(2) W(-1) at 1064 nm.