Open AccessHole inflation and tapering of stock photonic crystal fibres
Author(s) -
William J. Wadsworth,
A. Witkowska,
Sergio Leon-Saval,
T. A. Birks
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/opex.13.006541
Subject(s) - supercontinuum , tapering , materials science , optics , photonic crystal fiber , sapphire , laser , optical fiber , optoelectronics , wavelength , physics , computer graphics (images) , computer science
We report controlled hole expansion in photonic crystal fibres (PCFs) by heating the fibre while the holes were pressurised. This was done by post-processing an existing fibre, not during fibre fabrication. Small holes in an endlessly single-mode (ESM) PCF were inflated to become large holes. The large-hole PCF was then tapered to produce a "cobweb" PCF with a small highly-nonlinear core, interfaced to the ESM PCF at both ends by gradual transitions. The loss was less than 0.4 dB in the complete structure, which was used to demonstrate supercontinuum generation when pumped with a fs Ti:sapphire laser.