Open AccessThermal poling of silica optical fibers using liquid electrodes
Author(s) -
Francesco De Lucia,
Derek W. Keefer,
C. Corbari,
Pier J. A. Sazio
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
optics letters/optics index
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.524
H-Index - 272
eISSN - 1071-2763
pISSN - 0146-9592
DOI - 10.1364/ol.42.000069
Subject(s) - poling , materials science , polarization (electrochemistry) , electrode , optics , optical fiber , thermal , second harmonic generation , optoelectronics , nonlinear optics , laser , chemistry , physics , meteorology , dielectric , ferroelectricity
Thermal poling is a well-known technique for inducing second-order nonlinearities in centrosymmetric silica optical fibers. However, some 25 years since its discovery, there still remain a number of issues that prevent the realization of very long length, highly efficient all-fiber nonlinear device applications that include frequency conversion or sources of polarization-entangled photon pairs. In this Letter, we report a thermal poling method that utilizes a novel range of liquid metal and aqueous electrodes embedded into the optical fibers. We demonstrate that it is possible to pole samples that are potentially meters in length, characterized by very low losses for efficient second-harmonic generation processes. The maximum estimated effective value of χ (2) (0.12 pm/V) obtained using mercury electrodes is the highest reported in periodically poled silica fibers.