Temporal Self-Compression and Self-Frequency Shift of Submicrojoule Pulses at a Repetition Rate of 8 MHz

Francesco Tani, Jacob Lampen, Martin Butryn, Michael Frosz, Jie Jiang, Martin E. Fermann, Philip Russell

We combine soliton dynamics in gas-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fibers with a state-of-the-art fiber laser to realize a turnkey system producing few-femtosecond pulses at 8-MHz repetition rate at pump energies as low as 220 nJ. Furthermore, by exploiting the soliton self-frequency shift in a second hydrogen-filled hollow-core fiber, we efficiently generate pulses as short as 22 fs, continuously tunable from 1100 to 1474 nm.

Nonreciprocal vortex isolator via topology-selective stimulated Brillouin scattering

Xinglin Zeng, Philip Russell, Christian Wolff , Michael Frosz, Gordon Wong, Birgit Stiller

Optical nonreciprocity, which breaks the symmetry between forward and backward propagating optical waves, has become vital in photonic systems and enables many key applications. So far, all the existing nonreciprocal systems are implemented for linearly or randomly polarized fundamental modes. Optical vortex modes, with wavefronts that spiral around the central axis of propagation, have been extensively studied over the past decades and offer an additional degree of freedom useful in many applications. Here, we report a light-driven nonreciprocal isolation system for optical vortex modes based on topology-selective stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) in chiral photonic crystal fiber. The device can be reconfigured as an amplifier or an isolator by adjusting the frequency of the control signal. The experimental results show vortex isolation of 22 decibels (dB), which is at the state of the art in fundamental mode isolators using SBS. This device may find applications in optical communications, fiber lasers, quantum information processing, and optical tweezers.

Strong circular dichroism for the HE11 mode in twisted single-ring hollow-core photonic crystal fiber: erratum

Paul Roth, Yang Chen, Mehmet Can Günendi, Ramin Beravat, Nitin Edavalath, Michael Frosz, Goran Ahmed, Gordon Wong, Philip Russell

Recent work has revealed that the dispersion relation, given inOptica 5, 1315 (2018), for helicalBloch modes in a ring of capillaries surrounding a central hollowcore, is incorrect.Herewe correct this error and provide a revised version of Fig. 2. The overall conclusions of the original paper are unaffected.

Erratum to “Bragg Reflection and Conversion Between Helical Bloch Modes in Chiral Three-Core Photonic Crystal Fiber”

Sébastien Loranger, Yang Chen, Paul Roth, Michael Frosz, Gordon Wong, Philip Russell

The dispersion relation for the helical Bloch modes in this paper contains an error, which affects Equation (3) in the original manuscript, as well as Fig. 2. Otherwise the conclusions of the paper are unaffected.

Tunable and state-preserving frequency conversion of single photons in hydrogen

Rinat Tyumenev, Jonas Hammer, Nicolas Joly, Philip St.J. Russell, David Novoa

In modern quantum technologies, preservation of the photon statistics of quantum optical states upon frequency conversion holds the key to the viable implementation of quantum networks, which often require interfacing of several subsystems operating in widely different spectral regions. Most current approaches offer only very small frequency shifts and limited tunability, while suffering from high insertion loss and Raman noise originating in the materials used. We introduce a route to quantum-correlation–preserving frequency conversion using hydrogen-filled antiresonant-reflecting photonic crystal fibers. Transient optical phonons generated by stimulated Raman scattering enable selective frequency up-conversion by 125 terahertz of the idler photon of an entangled pair, with efficiencies up to 70%. This threshold-less molecular modulation process preserves quantum correlations, making it ideal for applications in quantum information.<br><br>https://www.science.org/stoken/author-tokens/ST-474/full

Stimulated Brillouin scattering in chiral photonic crystal fiber

Xinglin Zeng, Wenbin He, Michael Frosz, Andreas Geilen, Paul Roth, Gordon Wong, Philip Russell, Birgit Stiller

Stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) has many applications; for example, in sensing, microwave photonics, and signal processing. Here, we report the first experimental study of SBS in chiral photonic crystal fiber (PCF), which displays optical activity and robustly maintains circular polarization states against external perturbations. As a result, circularly polarized pump light is cleanly backscattered into a Stokes signal with the orthogonal circular polarization state, as is required by angular momentum conservation. By comparison, untwisted PCF generates a Stokes signal with an unpredictable polarization state, owing to its high sensitivity to external perturbations. We use chiral PCF to realize a circularly polarized continuous-wave Brillouin laser. The results pave the way for a new generation of stable circularly polarized SBS systems with applications in quantum manipulation, optical tweezers, optical gyroscopes, and fiber sensors.

Synchronization of gigahertz core resonances in multiple photonic crystal fiber cores by timing-modulated harmonic mode locking

Dung-Han Yeh, Wenbin He, Meng Pang, Xin Jiang, Philip St.J. Russell

Synchronization of mechanical oscillators by optical forces is a topic that has been much explored in recent years, for example, in the context of SiN microdisk resonators. Here we report stable long-term synchronization of the core vibrations of three different photonic crystal fibers, driven intra-cavity by a 2 GHz train of timing-modulated pulses in a high harmonic opto-acoustically mode-locked fiber laser. The core resonances are equally spaced in frequency and are coupled purely by the optical field. Under the correct conditions, they become stably synchronized, being simultaneously driven by the timing-modulated pulse train. Floquet–Bloch theory, in which the pulses are treated as particles trapped in potential wells and coupled by optomechanical back-action, describes the complex temporal dynamics observed in the experiments. This unique system provides a novel means of modifying the temporal structure of pulse trains running at few-gigahertz repetition rates.

Optical signatures of the coupled spin-mechanics of a levitated magnetic microparticle

Vanessa Wachter, Victor A. S. V. Bittencourt, Shangran Xie, Sanchar Sharma, Nicolas Joly, Philip Russell, Florian Marquardt, Silvia Viola-Kusminskiy

We propose a platform that combines the fields of cavity optomagnonics and levitated optome-<br>chanics in order to control and probe the coupled spin-mechanics of magnetic dielectric particles. We theoretically study the dynamics of a levitated Faraday-active dielectric microsphere serving as an optomagnonic cavity, placed in an external magnetic field and driven by an external laser. We find that the optically driven magnetization dynamics induces angular oscillations of the particle with low associated damping. Further, we show that the magnetization and angular motion dynamics<br>can be probed via the power spectrum of the outgoing light. Namely, the characteristic frequencies attributed to the angular oscillations and the spin dynamics are imprinted in the light spectrum by two main resonance peaks. Additionally, we demonstrate that a ferromagnetic resonance setup with an oscillatory perpendicular magnetic field can enhance the resonance peak corresponding to<br>the spin oscillations and induce fast rotations of the particle around its anisotropy axis.

Specialty Photonic Crystal Fibers and Their Applications

David Novoa, Nicolas Joly

This year not only commemorates the 60th anniversary of nonlinear optics with the seminal experiment of second harmonic generation, but it is also the 30th anniversary of the invention of the photonic crystal fiber (PCF). Following their first practical demonstration in 1996, PCFs have rapidly evolved into an established platform for applications in both academic and industrial environments. Their unique ability to confine light in a far more versatile way than possible with conventional optical fibers facilitated the expansion of the multifaceted world of PCF to cover not only nonlinear optics, but also many other disparate fields such as interferometry, beam delivery, laser science, telecommunications, quantum optics, sensing, microscopy, and many others.

Synthesis and dissociation of soliton molecules in parallel optical-soliton reactors

W He, M Pang, D.-H. Yeh, J Huang, Philip St. J. Russell

Mode-locked lasers have been widely used to explore interactions between optical solitons, including bound-soliton<br>states that may be regarded as “photonic molecules”. Conventional mode-locked lasers normally, however, host at<br>most only a few solitons, which means that stochastic behaviours involving large numbers of solitons cannot easily be<br>studied under controlled experimental conditions. Here we report the use of an optoacoustically mode-locked fibre<br>laser to create hundreds of temporal traps or “reactors” in parallel, within each of which multiple solitons can be<br>isolated and controlled both globally and individually using all-optical methods. We achieve on-demand synthesis and<br>dissociation of soliton molecules within these reactors, in this way unfolding a novel panorama of diverse dynamics in<br>which the statistics of multi-soliton interactions can be studied. The results are of crucial importance in understanding<br>dynamical soliton interactions and may motivate potential applications for all-optical control of ultrafast light fields in<br>optical resonators.

Doppler optical frequency domain reflectometry for remote fiber sensing

Max Koeppel, Abhinav Sharma, Jasper Podschus, Sanju Sundaramahalingam, Nicolas Y. Joly, Shangran Xie, Philip Russell, Bernhard Schmauss

Coherent optical frequency domain reflectometry has been widely used to locate static reflectors with high spatial resolution. Here, we present a new type of Doppler optical frequency domain reflectometry that offers simultaneous measurement of the position and speed of moving objects. The system is exploited to track optically levitated "flying" particles inside a hollow-core photonic crystal fiber. As an example, we demonstrate distributed temperature sensing with sub-mm-scale spatial resolution and a standard deviation of similar to 10 degrees C up to 200 degrees C. (C) 2021 Optical Society of America under the terms of the OSA Open Access Publishing Agreement

Efficient self-compression of ultrashort near-UV pulses in air-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fibers

Jie Luan, Philip St. J. Russell, David Novoa

We report generation of ultrashort near-UV pulses by soliton self-compression in kagomé-style hollow-core photonic crystal fibers filled with ambient air. Pump pulses with the energy of 2.6 µJ and duration of 54 fs at 400 nm were compressed temporally by a factor of 5, to a duration of ∼11 fs. The experimental results are supported by numerical simulations, showing that both Raman and Kerr effects play a role in the compression dynamics. The convenience of using ambient air and the absence of glass windows that would distort the compressed pulses makes the setup highly attractive as the basis of an efficient table-top UV pulse compressor.

Broadband mid-infrared supercontinuum generation in dispersion-engineered As2S3-silica nanospike waveguides pumped by 2.8 μm femtosecond laser

Pan Wang, Jiapeng Huang, Shangran Xie, Johann Troles, Philip St. J. Russell

Broadband mid-infrared (IR) supercontinuum laser sources are essential for spectroscopy in the molecular fingerprint region. Here, we report generation of octave-spanning and coherent mid-IR supercontinua in As2S3-silica nanospike hybrid waveguides pumped by a custom-built 2.8 μm femtosecond fiber laser. The waveguides are formed by pressure-assisted melt-filling of molten As2S3 into silica capillaries, allowing the dispersion and nonlinearity to be precisely tailored. Continuous coherent spectra spanning from 1.1 μm to 4.8 μm (30 dB level) are observed when the waveguide is designed so that 2.8 μm lies in the anomalous dispersion regime. Moreover, linearly tapered millimeter-scale As2S3-silica waveguides are fabricated and investigated for the first time, to the best of our knowledge, showing much broader supercontinua than uniform waveguides, with improved spectral coherence. The waveguides are demonstrated to be long-term stable and water-resistant due to the shielding of the As2S3 by the fused silica sheath. They offer an alternative route to generating broadband mid-IR supercontinua, with applications in frequency metrology and molecular spectroscopy, especially in humid and aqueous environments.

Frenet–Serret analysis of helical Bloch modes in N-fold rotationally symmetric rings of coupled spiraling optical waveguides

Yang Chen, Philip St.J. Russell

The behavior of electromagnetic waves in chirally twisted structures is a topic of enduring interest, dating back at least to the 1940s invention of the microwave travelling-wave-tube amplifier and culminating in contemporary studies of chiral metamaterials, metasurfaces, and photonic crystal fibers (PCFs). Optical fibers with chiral microstructures, drawn from a spinning preform, have many useful properties, exhibiting, for example, circular birefringence and circular dichroism. It has recently been shown that chiral fibers with N-fold rotationally symmetric (symmetry group CN) transverse microstructures support families of helical Bloch modes (HBMs), each of which consists of a superposition of azimuthal Bloch harmonics (or optical vortices). An example is a fiber with N coupled cores arranged in a ring around its central axis (N-core single-ring fiber). Although this type of fiber can be readily modeled using scalar coupled-mode theory, a full description of its optical properties requires a vectorial analysis that takes account of the polarization state of the light, which is particularly important in studies of circular and vortical birefringence. In this paper, we develop, using an orthogonal 2D helicoidal coordinate system embedded in a cylindrical surface at constant radius, a rigorous vector coupled-mode description of the fields using local Frenet–Serret frames that rotate and twist with each of the N cores. The analysis places on a firm theoretical footing a previous HBM theory in which a heuristic approach was taken, based on physical intuition of the properties of Bloch waves. After a detailed review of the polarization evolution in a single spiraling core, analysis of the N-core single-ring system is carefully developed step by step. Accuracy limits of the analysis are assessed by comparison with the results of finite element modeling, focusing in particular on the dispersion, polarization states, and transverse field profiles of the HBMs. We believe this study provides clarity into what can sometimes be a rather difficult field and will facilitate further exploration of real-world applications of these fascinating waveguiding systems.

Cross-phase modulational instability of circularly polarized helical Bloch modes carrying optical vortices in a chiral three-core photonic crystal fiber

Paul Roth, Michael Frosz, Linda Weise, Philip Russell, Gordon Wong

We report the first, to the best of our knowledge, observation of cross-phase modulational instability (XPMI) of circularly polarized helical Bloch modes carrying optical vortices in a twisted photonic crystal fiber with a three-fold symmetric core, formed by spinning the fiber preform during the draw. When the fiber is pumped by a superposition of left-circular polarization (LCP) and right-circular polarization (RCP) modes, a pair of orthogonal circularly polarized sidebands of opposite topological charge is generated. When, on the other hand, a pure LCP (or RCP) mode is launched, the XPMI gain is zero, and no sidebands are seen. This observation has not been seen before in any system and is unique to chiral structures with N-fold rotational symmetry. The polarization state and topological charge of the generated sidebands are measured. By decomposing the helical Bloch modes into their azimuthal harmonics, we are able to deduce the selection rules for the appearance of modulational instability sidebands. We showed that the four waves in the nonlinear mixing process must exhibit the same set of azimuthal harmonic orders.

All normal dispersion nonlinear fibre supercontinuum source characterization and application in hyperspectral stimulated Raman scattering microscopy

Pedram Abdolghader, Adrian F. Pegoraro, Nicolas Joly, Andrew Ridsdale, Rune Lausten, Francois Legare, Albert Stolow

Hyperspectral stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) microscopy is a powerful label-free, chemical-specific technique for biomedical and mineralogical imaging. Usually, broad and rapid spectral scanning across Raman bands is required for species identification. In many implementations, however, the Raman spectral scan speed is limited by the need to tune source laser wavelengths. Alternatively, a broadband supercontinuum source can be considered. In SRS microscopy, however, source noise is critically important, precluding many spectral broadening schemes. Here we show that a supercontinuum light source based on all normal dispersion (ANDi) fibres provides a stable broadband output with very low incremental source noise. We characterized the noise power spectral density of the ANDi fibre output and demonstrated its use in hyperspectral SRS microscopy applications. This confirms the viability and ease of implementation of ANDi fibre sources tier broadband SRS imaging. (C) 2020 Optical Society of America under the terms of the OSA Open Access Publishing Agreement

Sub-40  fs pulses at 1.8  µm and MHz repetition rates by chirp-assisted Raman scattering in hydrogen-filled hollow-core fiber

Sébastien Loranger, Philip Russell, David Novoa

The possibility to perform time-resolved spectroscopic studies in the molecular fingerprinting region or extending the cutoff wavelength of high-harmonic generation has recently boosted the development of efficient mid-infrared (mid-IR) ultrafast lasers. In particular, fiber lasers based on active media such as thulium or holmium are a very active area of research since they are robust, compact, and can operate at high repetition rates. These systems, however, are still complex, are unable to deliver pulses shorter than 100 fs, and are not yet as mature as their near-infrared counterparts. Here, we report the generation of sub-40 fs pulses at 1.8 µm, with quantum efficiencies of 50% and without the need for post-compression, in hydrogen-filled, hollow-core photonic crystal fiber pumped by a commercial high-repetition-rate 300 fs fiber laser at 1030 nm. This is achieved by pressure-tuning the dispersion and avoiding Raman gain suppression by adjusting the chirp of the pump pulses and the proportion of higher-order modes launched into the fiber. The system is optimized using a physical model that incorporates the main linear and nonlinear contributions to the optical response. The approach is average power-scalable, permits adjustment of the pulse shape, and can potentially allow access to much longer wavelengths.

Covariance spectroscopy of molecular gases using fs pulse bursts created by modulational instability in gas-filled hollow-core fiber

Mallika Irene Suresh, Philip Russell, Francesco Tani

We present a technique that uses noisy broadband pulse bursts generated by modulational instability to probe nonlinear processes, including infrared-inactive Raman transitions, in molecular gases. These processes imprint correlations between different regions of the noisy spectrum, which can be detected by acquiring single shot spectra and calculating the Pearson correlation coefficient between the different frequency components. Numerical simulations verify the experimental measurements and are used to further understand the system and discuss methods to improve the signal strength and the spectral resolution of the technique.

Modulational-instability-free pulse compression in anti-resonant hollow-core photonic crystal fiber

Felix Köttig, Francesco Tani, Philip Russell

Gas-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fiber (PCF) is used for efficient nonlinear temporal compression of femtosecond laser pulses, two main schemes being direct soliton-effect self-compression and spectral broadening followed by phase compensation. To obtain stable compressed pulses, it is crucial to avoid decoherence through modulational instability (MI) during spectral broadening. Here, we show that changes in dispersion due to spectral anti-crossings between the fundamental-core mode and core wall resonances in anti-resonant-guiding hollow-core PCF can strongly alter the MI gain spectrum, enabling MI-free pulse compression for optimized fiber designs. The results are important, since MI cannot always be suppressed by pumping in the normal dispersion regime.

Narrowband Vacuum Ultraviolet Light via Cooperative Raman Scattering in Dual-Pumped Gas-Filled Photonic Crystal Fiber

Rinat Tyumenev, Philip Russell, David Novoa

Many fields such as biospectroscopy and photochemistry often require sources of vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) pulses featuring a narrow line width and tunable over a wide frequency range. However, the majority of available VUV light sources do not simultaneously fulfill those two requirements and few if any are truly compact, cost-effective, and easy to use by nonspecialists. Here we introduce a novel approach that goes a long way to meeting this challenge. It is based on hydrogen-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fiber pumped simultaneously by two spectrally distant pulses. Stimulated Raman scattering enables the generation of coherence waves of collective molecular motion in the gas, which together with careful dispersion engineering and control over the modal content of the pump light, facilitates cooperation between the two separate Raman combs, resulting in a spectrum that reaches deep into the VUV. Using this system, we demonstrate the generation of a dual Raman comb of narrowband lines extending down to 141 nm using only 100 mW of input power delivered by a commercial solid-state laser. The approach may enable access to tunable VUV light to any laboratory and therefore boost progress in many research areas across multiple disciplines.

Sub-two-cycle octave-spanning mid-infrared fiber laser

Jiapeng Huang, Meng Pang, Xin Jiang, Felix Köttig, Daniel Schade, Wenbin He, Martin Butryn, Philip Russell

Compact and powerful ultrafast light sources at high pulse repetition rates, based on mode-locked near infrared fiber lasers, are now widely available and are being used in applications such as frequency metrology, molecular spectroscopy, and laser micro-machining. The realization of such lasers in the mid-infrared has, however, remained a challenge for many years. Here we report a record-breaking three-stage fiber laser system that uses an Er-doped fluoride fiber as gain medium, delivering W-level few-cycle pulses at 2.8 µm at a repetition rate of 42.1 MHz. A fiber-based seed oscillator, cavity dispersion-managed by a pulse-stretcher, generates near-100-fs mid-infrared pulses with >110nm spectral bandwidth. These pulses are amplified to an average power of ∼1 W in a chirp-engineered fiber amplifier, and then compressed to ∼16 fs in a short length of highly nonlinear ZBLAN fiber, resulting in a more-than-octave-wide spectrum reaching from 1.8 µm to 3.8 µm with a total power of 430 mW.

Optomechanical cooling and self-stabilization of a waveguide coupled to a whispering-gallery-mode resonator

Riccardo Pennetta, Shangran Xie, Richard Zeltner, Jonas Hammer, Philip Russell

Laser cooling of mechanical degrees of freedom is one of the most significant achievements in the field of optomechanics. Here, we report, for the first time to the best of our knowledge, efficient passive optomechanical cooling of the motion of a freestanding waveguide coupled to a whispering-gallery-mode (WGM) resonator. The waveguide is an 8 mm long glass-fiber nanospike, which has a fundamental flexural resonance at Ω/2π=2.5  kHz and a Q-factor of 1.2×10^5. Upon launching ∼250  μW laser power at an optical frequency close to the WGM resonant frequency, we observed cooling of the nanospike resonance from room temperature down to 1.8 K. Simultaneous cooling of the first higher-order mechanical mode is also observed. The strong suppression of the overall Brownian motion of the nanospike, observed as an 11.6 dB reduction in its mean square displacement, indicates strong optomechanical stabilization of linear coupling between the nanospike and the cavity mode. The cooling is caused predominantly by a combination of photothermal effects and optical forces between nanospike and WGM resonator. The results are of direct relevance in the many applications of WGM resonators, including atom physics, optomechanics, and sensing.

Three-photon head-mounted microscope for imaging deep cortical layers in freely moving rats

Alexandr Klioutchnikov, Damian James Wallace, Michael H. Frosz, Richard Zeltner, Jürgen Sawinski, Verena Pawlak, Kay-Michael Voit, Philip St. J. Russell, Jason Kerr

We designed a head-mounted three-photon microscope for imaging deep cortical layer neuronal activity in a freely moving rat. Delivery of high-energy excitation pulses at 1,320 nm required both a hollow-core fiber whose transmission properties did not change with fiber movement and dispersion compensation. These developments enabled imaging at >1.1 mm below the cortical surface and stable imaging of layer 5 euronal activity for >1 h in freely moving rats performing a range of behaviors.

Thermally tunable whispering-gallery mode cavities for magneto-optics

Serge Vincent, Xin Jiang, Philip Russell, Frank Vollmer

We report the experimental realization of magneto-optical coupling between whispering-gallery modes in a germanate (56GeO2-31PbO9Na2O-4Ga2O3) microspherical cavity due to the Faraday effect. An encapsulated gold conductor heats the resonator and tunes the quasitransverse electric (TE) and quasi-transverse magnetic (TM) polarized modes with an efficiency of 65 fm/V at a peak-to-peak bias voltage of 4 V. The signal parameters for a number of heating regimes are quantified to confirm sensitivity to the generated magnetic field. The quasi-TE and quasi-TM resonance frequencies stably converge near the device’s heating rate limit (equivalently, bias voltage limit) in order to minimize inherent geometrical birefringence. This functionality optimizes Faraday rotation and thus enables the observation of subsequent magneto-optics.

Bragg Reflection and Conversion Between Helical Bloch Modes in Chiral Three-Core Photonic Crystal Fiber

Sébastien Loranger, Yang Chen, Paul Roth, Michael Frosz, Gordon Wong, Philip Russell

Optical fiber modes carrying orbital angular momentum (OAM) have many applications, for example in mode-division-multiplexing for optical communications. The natural guided modes of N-fold rotationally symmetric optical fibers, such as most photonic crystal fibers, are helical Bloch modes (HBMs). HBMs consist of a superposition of azimuthal harmonics (order m) of order l_A(m)=l_A(0)+mN. When such fibers are twisted, these modes become circularly and azimuthally birefringent, that is to say HBMs with equal and opposite values of l_A(0) and spin s are non-degenerate. In this article we report the use of Bragg mirrors to reflect and convert HBMs in a twisted three-core photonic crystal fiber, and show that by writing a tilted fiber Bragg grating (FBG), reflection between HBMs of different orders becomes possible, with high wavelength-selectivity. We measure the near-field phase and amplitude distribution of the reflected HBMs interferometrically, and demonstrate good agreement with theory. This new type of FBG has potential applications in fiber lasers, sensing, quantum optics, and in any situation where creation, conversion, and reflection of OAM-carrying modes is required.

Progress toward third-order parametric down-conversion in optical fibers

A. Cavanna, J. Hammer, C. Okoth, E. Ortiz-Ricardo, H. Cruz-Ramirez, K. Garay-Palmett, A. B. U’Ren, M. Frosz, X. Jiang, et al.

Optical fibers have been considered an optimal platform for third-order parametric down-conversion since they can potentially overcome the weak third-order nonlinearity by their long interaction length. Here we present, in the first part, a theoretical derivation for the conversion rate both in the case of spontaneous generation and in the presence of a seed beam. Then we review three types of optical fibers and we examine their properties in terms of conversion efficiency and practical feasibility.

Broadly tunable photon-pair generation in a suspended-core fiber

Jonas Hammer, Maria V. Chekhova, Daniel Häupl, Riccardo Pennetta, Nicolas Y. Joly

Nowadays fiber biphoton sources are nearly as popular as crystal-based ones. They offer a single spatial mode and easy integrability into optical networks. However, fiber sources lack the broad tunability of crystals, which do not require a tunable pump. Here, we report a broadly tunable biphoton source based on a suspended core fiber. This is achieved by introducing pressurized gas into the fibers hollow channels, changing the step index. The mechanism circumvents the need for a tunable pump laser, making this a broadly tunable fiber biphoton source with a convenient tuning mechanism, comparable to crystals. We report a continuous shift of 0.30 THz/bar of the sidebands, using up to 25 bar of argon.

Robust excitation and Raman conversion of guided vortices in a chiral gas-filled photonic crystal fiber

Sona Davtyan, Yang Chen, Michael Frosz, Philip Russell, David Novoa

The unique ring-shaped intensity patterns and helical phase fronts of optical vortices make them useful in many applications. Here we report for the first time, to the best of our knowledge, efficient Raman frequency conversion between vortex modes in a twisted hydrogen-filled single-ring hollow core photonic crystal fiber (SR-PCF). High-fidelity transmission of optical vortices in an untwisted SR-PCF becomes<br>more and more difficult as the orbital angular momentum (OAM) order increases, due to scattering at structural imperfections in the fiber microstructure. In a helically twisted<br>SR-PCF, however, the degeneracy between left- and righthanded versions of the same mode is lifted, with the result<br>that they are topologically protected from such scattering. With launch efficiencies of ∼75%, a high damage threshold and broadband guidance, these fibers are ideal for performing nonlinear experiments that require the polarization<br>state and azimuthal order of the interacting modes to be preserved over long distances. Vortex coherence waves of internal molecular motion carrying angular momentum are excited in the gas, permitting the polarization and OAM of the Raman bands to be tailored, even in spectral regions where conventional solid-core waveguides are opaque or susceptible to optical damage.

Efficient single-cycle pulse compression of an ytterbium fiber laser at 10 MHz repetition rate

Felix Köttig, Daniel Schade, Johannes Köhler, Philip Russell, Francesco Tani

Over the past years, ultrafast lasers with average powers in the 100 W range have become a mature technology, with a multitude of applications in science and technology. Nonlinear temporal compression of these lasers to few- or even single-cycle duration is often essential, yet still hard to achieve, in particular at high repetition rates. Here we report a two-stage system for compressing pulses from a 1030 nm ytterbium fiber laser to single-cycle durations with 5 µJ output pulse energy at 9.6 MHz repetition rate. In the first stage, the laser pulses are compressed from 340 to 25 fs by spectral broadening in a krypton-filled single-ring photonic crystal fiber (SR-PCF), subsequent phase compensation being achieved with chirped mirrors. In the second stage, the pulses are further compressed to single-cycle duration by soliton-effect self-compression in a neon-filled SR-PCF. We estimate a pulse duration of ∼3.4 fs at the fiber output by numerically back-propagating the measured pulses. Finally, we directly measured a pulse duration of 3.8 fs (1.25 optical cycles) after compensating (using chirped mirrors) the dispersion introduced by the optical elements after the fiber, more than 50% of the total pulse energy being in the main peak. The system can produce compressed pulses with peak powers >0.6 GW and a total transmission exceeding 66%.

Optomechanical cooling and self-stabilization of a waveguide coupled to a whispering-gallery-mode resonator

Riccardo Pennetta, Shangran Xie, Richard Zeltner, Jonas Hammer, Philip Russell

Laser cooling of mechanical degrees of freedom is one of the most significant achievements in the field of optomechanics. Here, we report, for the first time to the best of our knowledge, efficient passive optomechanical cooling of the motion of a freestanding waveguide coupled to a whispering-gallery-mode (WGM) resonator. The waveguide is an 8 mm long glass-fiber nanospike, which has a fundamental flexural resonance at Ω/2π=2.5  kHz and a Q-factor of 1.2×10^5. Upon launching ∼250  μW laser power at an optical frequency close to the WGM resonant frequency, we observed cooling of the nanospike resonance from room temperature down to 1.8 K. Simultaneous cooling of the first higher-order mechanical mode is also observed. The strong suppression of the overall Brownian motion of the nanospike, observed as an 11.6 dB reduction in its mean square displacement, indicates strong optomechanical stabilization of linear coupling between the nanospike and the cavity mode. The cooling is caused predominantly by a combination of photothermal effects and optical forces between nanospike and WGM resonator. The results are of direct relevance in the many applications of WGM resonators, including atom physics, optomechanics, and sensing.

Formation of optical supramolecular structures in a fibre laser by tailoring long-range soliton interactions

Wenbin He, Meng Pang, Dung-Han Yeh, Jiapeng Huang, Curtis Menyuk, Philip Russell

Self-assembly of fundamental elements through weak, long-range interactions plays a central role in both supramolecular DNA assembly and bottom-up synthesis of nanostructures. Optical solitons, analogous in many ways to particles, arise from the balance between nonlinearity and dispersion and have been studied in numerous optical systems. Although both short- and long-range interactions between optical solitons have attracted extensive interest for decades, stable soliton supramolecules, with multiple aspects of complexity and flexibility, have thus far escaped experimental observation due to the absence of techniques for enhancing and controlling the long-range inter-soliton forces. Here we report that long-range soliton interactions originating from optoacoustic effects and dispersive-wave radiations can be precisely tailored in a fibre laser cavity, enabling self-assembly of large numbers of optical solitons into highly-ordered supramolecular structures. We demonstrate several features of such optical structures, highlighting their potential applications in optical information storage and ultrafast laser-field manipulation.

Pump-Probe Study of Plasma Dynamics in Gas-Filled Photonic Crystal Fiber Using Counterpropagating Solitons

Mallika Irene Suresh, Felix Köttig, Johannes Köhler, Francesco Tani, Philip Russell

We present a pump-probe technique for monitoring ultrafast polarizability changes. In particular, we use it to measure the plasma density created at the temporal focus of a self-compressing higher-order pump soliton in a gas-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fiber. This is done by monitoring the wavelength of the dispersive wave emission from a counterpropagating probe soliton. By varying the relative delay between pump and probe, the plasma density distribution along the fiber can be mapped out. Compared with recently introduced interferometric side probing for monitoring the plasma density, our technique is relatively immune to instabilities caused by air turbulence and mechanical vibration. The results of two experiments on argon- and krypton-filled fiber are presented and compared to numerical simulations. The technique provides an important tool for probing photoionization in many different gases and gas mixtures, as well as ultrafast changes in dispersion in many other contexts.

Sustained Self-Starting Orbital Motion of a Glass-Fiber “Nanoengine” Driven by Photophoretic Forces

Shangran Xie, Riccardo Pennetta, Zheqi Wang, Philip Russell

Controllable optically driven rotation of microscopic objects is desirable in many applications, but is difficult to achieve. Here we report a sustained self-starting orbital motion of a clamped elongated nanostructure, a glass-fiber nanospike, when a CW laser<br>beam is focused axially onto its tip. Analysis shows that photophoretic antitrapping forces,<br>acting on the nanospike with a delayed response, introduce optomechanical gain into the mechanical motion, overcoming the intrinsic mechanical dissipation and resulting in growth from noise of oscillations at the resonant frequency of the nanospike. These photophoretic forces further enable phase-locking of the orthogonal fast and slow vibrations of the nanospike (induced by slight mechanical anisotropy), giving rise to a self-sustained orbital motion. The locked phase of orbital motion can be changed by tuning the gas pressure and adjusting the geometrical asymmetry of the system. This light-driven<br>nanoengine opens up a new degree of freedom for controlling the rotational motion of elongated nano-objects.

On-the-fly particle metrology in hollow-core photonic crystal fibre

Abhinav Sharma, Shangran Xie, Richard Zeltner, Philip Russell

Efficient monitoring of airborne particulate matter (PM), especially particles with aerodynamic diameter less than 2.5 µm (PM2.5), is crucial for improving public health. Reliable information on the concentration, size distribution and chemical characteristics of PMs is key to evaluating air pollution and identifying its sources. Standard methods for PM2.5 characterization require sample collection from the atmosphere and post-analysis using sophisticated equipment in a laboratory environment, and are normally very time-consuming. Although optical methods based on analysis of scattering of free-space laser beams or evanescent fields are in principle suitable for real-time particle counting and sizing, lack of knowledge of the refractive index in these methods not only leads to inevitable sizing ambiguity but also prevents identification of the particle material. In the case of evanescent wave detection, the system lifetime is strongly limited by adhesion of particles to the surfaces. Here we report a novel technique for airborne particle metrology based on hollow-core photonic crystal fibre. It offers in situ particle counting, sizing and refractive index measurement with effectively unlimited device lifetime, and relies on optical forces that automatically capture airborne particles in front of the hollow core and propel them into the fibre. The resulting transmission drop, together with the time-of-flight of the particles passing through the fibre, provide unambiguous mapping of particle size and refractive index with high accuracy. The technique offers unique advantages over currently available real-time particle metrology systems, and can be directly applied to monitoring air pollution in the open atmosphere as well as precise particle characterization in a local environment such as a closed room or a reaction vessel.

Highly efficient deep UV generation by four-wave mixing in gas-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fiber

Federico Belli, Amir Abdolvand, John Travers, Philip Russell

We report on a highly efficient experimental scheme for the generation of deep-ultraviolet (UV) ultrashort light pulses using four-wave mixing in gas-filled kagomé-style photonic crystal fiber. By pumping with ultrashort, few microjoule pulses centered at 400 nm, we generate an idler pulse at 266 nm and amplify a seeded signal at 800 nm. We achieve remarkably high pump-to-idler energy conversion efficiencies of up to 38%. Although the pump and seed pulse durations are ∼100  fs, the generated UV spectral bandwidths support sub-15 fs pulses. These can be further extended to support few-cycle pulses. Four-wave mixing in gas-filled hollow-core fibers can be scaled to high average powers and different spectral regions such as the vacuum UV (100–200 nm).

Laser refrigeration of gas filled hollow-core fibres

Christian Sommer, Nicolas Y. Joly, Helmut Ritsch, Claudiu Genes

We evaluate prospects, performance and temperature limits of a new approach to macroscopic scale laser refrigeration. The considered<br>refrigeration device is based on exciplex-mediated frequency up-conversion inside hollow-core fibers pressurized with a dopant - buffer<br>gas mixture. Exciplexes are excited molecular states formed by two atoms (dopant and buffer) which do not form a molecule in the<br>ground state but exhibit bound states for electronically excited states. The cooling cycle consists of absorption of laser photons during<br>atomic collisions inducing light assisted exciplex formation followed by blue-shifted spontaneous emission on the atomic line of the bare<br>dopant atoms after molecular separation. This process, closely related to reversing the gain mechanism in excimer lasers, allows for a large<br>fraction of collision energy to be extracted in each cycle. The hollow-core fiber plays a crucial role as it allows for strong light-matter<br>interactions over a long distance, which maximizes the cooling rate per unit volume and the cooling efficiency per injected photon while<br>limiting re-absorption of spontaneously emitted photons channeled into unguided radiation modes. Using quantum optical rate equations<br>and refined dynamical simulations we derive general conditions for efficient cooling of both the gas and subsequently of the surrounding<br>solid state environment. Our analytical approach is applicable to any specific exciplex system considered and reveals the shape of the<br>exciplex potential landscapes as well as the density of the dopant as crucial tuning knobs. The derived scaling laws allow for the identification<br>of optimal exciplex characteristics that help to choose suitable gas mixtures that maximize the refrigeration efficiency for specific<br>applications.<br>

Full-field characterization of helical Bloch modes guided in twisted coreless photonic crystal fiber

Paul Roth, Gordon Wong, Michael Frosz, Goran Ahmed, Philip Russell

It was recently reported that a photonic crystal fiber (PCF) with no structural core guides light if a permanent chiral twist is introduced by spinning the fiber preform during the draw. The intriguing guidance mechanism behind this novel effect has many remarkable features; for example, it intrinsically supports circularly polarized helical Bloch modes (HBMs) that carry multiple optical vortices, making twisted PCFs of interest in fields such as optical micromanipulation, imaging, quantum optics, and optical communications. Here we report for the first time, to the best of our knowledge, that a twisted coreless PCF supports not just one but a family of guided HBMs, each member of which has a unique transverse field distribution and harmonic spectrum. By making detailed interferometric measurements of the near-field phase and amplitude distributions of HBMs, and expanding them as a series of Bessel beams, we are able to extract the amplitude of each azimuthal and radial HBM harmonic. Good agreement is found with the numerical solutions of Maxwell’s equations. The results shed light on the properties of this curious new optical phenomenon.

Carrier-envelope-phase-stable soliton-based pulse compression to 4.4  fs and ultraviolet generation at the 800  kHz repetition rate

Alexey Ermolov, Christian Heide, Philip Dienstbier, Felix Köttig, Francesco Tani, Peter Hommelhoff, Philip Russell

In this Letter, we report the generation of a femtosecond supercontinuum extending from the ultraviolet to the near-infrared spectrum and detection of its carrier-envelope-phase (CEP) variation by f-to-2f interferometry. The spectrum is generated in a gas-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fiber, where soliton dynamics allows the CEP-stable self-compression of the optical parametric chirped-pulse amplifier pump pulses at 800 nm to a duration of 1.7 optical cycles, followed by dispersive wave emission. The source provides up to 1 μJ of pulse energy at the 800 kHz repetition rate, resulting in 0.8 W of average power, and it can be extremely useful, for example in strong-field physics, pump–probe measurements, and ultraviolet frequency comb metrology.

Non-invasive real-time characterization of hollow-core photonic crystal fibers using whispering gallery mode spectroscopy

Michael Frosz, Riccardo Pennetta, Michael Enders, Goran Ahmed, Philip Russell

Single-ring hollow-core photonic crystal fibers, consisting of a ring of one or two thin-walled glass capillaries surrounding a central hollow core, hold great promise for use in optical communications and beam delivery, and are already being successfully exploited for extreme pulse compression and efficient wavelength conversion in gases. However, achieving low loss over long (km) lengths requires highly accurate maintenance of the microstructure—a major fabrication challenge. In certain applications, for example adiabatic mode transformers, it is advantageous to taper the fibers, but no technique exists for measuring the delicate and complex microstructure without first cleaving the taper at several positions along its length. In this Letter, we present a simple non-destructive optical method for measuring the diameter of individual capillaries. Based on recording the spectrum scattered from whispering gallery modes excited in the capillary walls, the technique is highly robust, allowing real-time measurement of fiber structure during the draw with sub-micron accuracy.

Optically Addressable Array of Optomechanically Compliant Glass Nanospikes on the Endface of a Soft-Glass Photonic Crystal Fiber

Zheqi Wang, Shangran Xie, Xin Jiang, Fehim Babic, Jiapeng Huang, Riccardo Pennetta, Johannes Köhler, Philip Russell

Arrays of elongated nanoscale structures with suitable optical and mechanical properties can act as probes of numerous physical processes at the nanoscale, with applications in, for example, high-resolution optical imaging and atomic force microscopy. They can also be used to investigate optomechanical phenomena such as synchronization among large assemblies of mechanical oscillators. Here we report a novel and versatile technique for fabricating two-dimensional light-guiding arrays of mechanically compliant glass nanospikes with lengths up to several hundred micrometers. The procedure starts with a multicore fiber made by stacking and drawing capillaries and rods of two different germanate glasses with markedly different acid etching rates. After a suitable etching step, a free-standing nanospike array is created at the fiber endface. The parameters are chosen so that there is evanescent coupling between adjacent nanospikes, which gives rise to strong optomechanical forces that can be exploited to drive and control the mechanical motion of the nanospikes and thus the optical properties.

Route from single-pulse to multi-pulse states in a mid-infrared soliton fiber laser

Jiapeng Huang, Meng Pang, Xin Jiang, Wenbin He, Philip Russell

State-of-the-art ultrafast mid-IR fiber lasers deliver optical solitons with durations of several hundred femtoseconds. The Er- or Ho-doped fluoride gain fibers generally used in these lasers have strong anomalous dispersion at ∼3 µm, which generally forces them to operate in the soliton regime. Here we report that a pulse-energy clamping effect, caused by the buildup of intracavity nonlinearities, limits the shortest obtainable pulse durations in these mid-infrared soliton fiber lasers. Excessive intra-cavity energy results in soliton instability, collapse and fragmentation into a variety of stable multi-pulse states, including phase-locked soliton molecules and harmonically mode-locked states. We report that the spectral evolution of the mid-IR laser pulses can be recorded between roundtrips through stretching their second-harmonic signal in a 25-km-length of single-mode fiber. Using a modified dispersive Fourier transform set-up, we were able to perform for the first time spectro-temporal measurements of mid-IR laser pulses both in the pulsed state and during pulse collapse and fragmentation. The results provide insight into the complex nonlinear dynamics of mid-IR soliton fiber lasers and open up new opportunities for obtaining a variety of stable multi-pulse mode-locked states at mid-IR wavelengths.

Generation of 1.5 cycle pulses at 780 nm at oscillator repetition rates with stable carrier-envelope phase

Philip Dienstbier, Francesco Tani, Takuya Higuchi, John Travers, Philip Russell, Peter Hommelhoff

We demonstrate a spectral broadening and compression setup for carrier-envelope phase (CEP) stable sub-10-fs Ti:sapphire oscillator pulses resulting in 3.9 fs pulses spectrally centered at 780 nm. Pulses from the oscillator with 2 nJ energy are launched into a 1 mm long all-normal dispersive solid-core photonic crystal fiber and spectrally broadened to more than one octave. Subsequent pulse compression is achieved with a phase-only 4f pulse shaper. Second harmonic frequency resolved optical gating with a ptychographic reconstruction algorithm is used to obtain the spectral phase, which is fed back as a phase mask to the shaper display for pulse compression. The compressed pulses are CEP stable with a long term standard deviation of 0.23 rad for the CEP noise and 0.32 rad for the integrated rms phase jitter. The high total throughput of 15% results in a remaining pulse energy of about 300 pJ at 80 MHz repetition rate. With these parameters and the ability to tailor the spectral phase, the system is well suited for waveform sensitive photoemission experiments with needle tips or nanostructures and can be easily adapted to other sub-10 fs ultra-broadband Ti:sapphire oscillators.

Generation of broadband circularly polarized supercontinuum light in twisted photonic crystal fibers

Rafal Sopalla, Gordon Wong, Nicolas Joly, Michael Frosz, Xin Jiang, Goran Ahmed, Philip Russell

We compare the properties of the broadband supercontinuum (SC) generated in twisted and untwisted solid-core photonic crystal fibers when pumped by circularly polarized<br>40 picosecond laser pulses at 1064 nm. In the helically twisted fiber, fabricated by spinning the preform during the draw, the SC is robustly circularly polarized across its entire<br>spectrum whereas, in the straight fiber, axial fluctuations in linear birefringence and polarization-dependent nonlinear effects cause the polarization state to vary randomly with the wavelength. Theoretical modelling confirms the experimental results. Helically twisted photonic crystal fibers permit the generation of pure circularly polarized SC light with excellent polarization stability against fluctuations in input power and environmental perturbations.

Optical traps and anti-traps for glass nanoplates in hollow waveguides

Mehmet Can Günendi, Shangran Xie, David Novoa, Philip Russell

We study theoretically the optical forces acting on glass nanoplates introduced into<br>hollow waveguides, and show that, depending on the sign of the laser detuning relative to the nanoplate resonance, optomechanical back-action between nanoplate and hollow waveguide can create both traps and anti-traps at intensity nodes and anti-nodes in the supermode field profile, behaving similarly to those experienced by cold atoms when the laser frequency is red or blue detuned of an atomic resonance. This arises from dramatic distortions to the mode profile in the hollow waveguide when the nanoplate is off-resonant, producing gradient forces that vary strongly with nanoplate position. In a planar system, we show that when the nanoplate is constrained by an imaginary mechanical spring, its position exhibits strong bistability as the base position is varied. We then treat a two-dimensional system consisting of an anti-resonant nanoplate in the hollow core of a photonic crystal fiber, and predict the stable dark trapping of nanoplate at core center against both translational and rotational motion. The results show that spatial and angular position of nano-scale objects in hollow waveguides can be optically controlled by launching beams with appropriately synthesized transverse field profiles. <br>

MRI-guided robotic arm drives optogenetic fMRI with concurrent Ca2+ recording

Y Chen, P Pais-Roldán, X Chen, Michael Frosz, X Yu

Optical fiber-mediated optogenetic activation and neuronal Ca2+ recording in combination with fMRI provide a multi-modal fMRI platform. Here, we developed an MRI-guided robotic arm (MgRA) as a flexible positioning system with high precision to real-time assist optical fiber brain intervention for multi-modal animal fMRI. Besides the ex vivo precision evaluation, we present the highly reliable brain activity patterns in the projected basal forebrain regions upon MgRA-driven optogenetic stimulation in the lateral hypothalamus. Also, we show the step-wise optical fiber targeting thalamic nuclei and map the region-specific functional connectivity with whole-brain fMRI accompanied by simultaneous calcium recordings to specify its circuit-specificity. The MgRA also guides the real-time microinjection to specific deep brain nuclei, which is demonstrated by an Mn-enhanced MRI method. The MgRA represents a clear advantage over the standard stereotaxic-based fiber implantation and opens a broad avenue to investigate the circuit-specific functional brain mapping with the multi-modal fMRI platform.

Thresholdless deep and vacuum ultraviolet Raman frequency conversion in hydrogen-filled photonic crystal fiber

Manoj K. Mridha, David Novoa, Pooria Hosseini, Philip St. J. Russell

Coherent ultraviolet light has many uses, for example, in the study of molecular species relevant in biology and chemistry. Very few, if any, laser materials offer ultraviolet transparency along with damage-free operation at high-photon energies and laser power. Here we report efficient generation of narrowband deep and vacuum ultraviolet light using hydrogen-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fiber. Pumping above the stimulated Raman threshold at 532 nm, coherent molecular vibrations are excited in the gas, permitting thresholdless wavelength conversion in the ultraviolet with efficiencies close to 60%. The system is uniquely pressure tunable, allows spatial structuring of the out-coupled radiation, and shows excellent performance in the vacuum ultraviolet. As the underlying scattering process is effectively linear, our approach can also in principle operate at the single-photon level, when all other alternatives are extremely inefficient.

Fabrication and non-destructive characterization of tapered single-ring hollow-core photonic crystal fiber

Riccardo Pennetta, Michael T. Enders, Michael H. Frosz, Francesco Tani, Philip St. J. Russell

We report on the properties of tapered single-ring hollow-core photonic-crystal fibers, with a particular emphasis on applications in nonlinear optics. The simplicity of these structures allows the use of non-invasive side-illumination to assess the quality of the tapering process, by<br>observing the scattered far-field spectrum originating from excitation of whispering-gallery modes in the cladding capillaries. We investigate the conditions that ensure adiabatic propagation in the up- and down-tapers, and the scaling of loss-bands (created by anti-crossings between the core mode and modes in the capillary walls) with taper ratio. We also present an analytical model for the pressure profile along a tapered hollow fiber under differential pumping

Pump-probe multi-species CARS in a hollow-core PCF with a 20 ppm detection limit under ambient conditions

Rinat Tyumenev, Luisa Späth, Barbara M. Trabold, Goran Ahmed, Michael H. Frosz, Philip St. J. Russell

We report coherent anti-Stokes Raman spectroscopy (CARS) in a gas-filled single-ring hollow-core photonic crystal fiber (SR-PCF) using a pump-probe configuration. The long collinear path length offered by an SR-PCF strongly enhances the efficiency of the Raman interactions. Pressure tuning the zero-dispersion wavelength (ZDW) of the SR-PCF allows the Raman coherence prepared by seeded pumping at 515 nm to be used in the visible for phase-matched generation of an anti-Stokes signal from a probe in the ultraviolet. The unique dispersion profile in the vicinity of the ZDW enables simultaneous phase matching of all known Raman transitions. We demonstrate that simultaneous multi-species CARS with a detection limit of 20 ppm is possible with only 20 kW of peak pump power delivered by a single laser source.

Spatio-temporal measurement of ionization-induced modal index changes in gas-filled PCF by prism-assisted side-coupling

Barbara M. Trabold, Mallika I. Suresh, Johannes R. Köhler, Michael H. Frosz, Francesco Tani, Philip St. J. Russell

We report the use of prism-assisted side-coupling to investigate the spatio-temporal dynamics of photoionization in an Ar-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fiber. By launching four different LP core modes we are able to probe temporal and spatial changes in the modal refractive index on timescales from a few hundred picoseconds to several hundred microseconds after the ionization event. We experimentally analyze the underlying gas density waves and find good agreement with quantitative and qualitative hydrodynamic predictions. Moreover, we observe periodic modulations in the MHz-range lasting for a few microseconds, indicating nanometer-scale vibrations of the fiber structure, driven by gas density waves.

Polarization-Tailored Raman Frequency Conversion in Chiral Gas-Filled Hollow-Core Photonic Crystal Fibers

Sona Davtyan, David Novoa, Yang Chen, Michael H. Frosz, Philip St. J. Russell

Broadband-tunable sources of circularly polarized light are crucial in fields such as laser science, biomedicine, and spectroscopy. Conventional sources rely on nonlinear wavelength conversion and polarization control using standard optical components and are limited by the availability of suitably transparent crystals and glasses. Although a gas-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fiber provides pressuretunable dispersion, long well-controlled optical path lengths, and high Raman conversion efficiency, it is unable to preserve a circular polarization state, typically exhibiting weak linear birefringence. Here we report a revolutionary approach based on a helically twisted hollow-core photonic crystal fiber, which displays circular birefringence, thus robustly maintaining a circular polarization state against external perturbations. This makes it possible to generate pure circularly polarized Stokes and anti-Stokes signals by rotational Raman scattering in hydrogen. The polarization state of the frequency-shifted Raman bands can be continuously varied by tuning the gas pressure in the vicinity of the gain-suppression point. The results pave the way to a new generation of compact and efficient fiber-based sources of broadband light with a fully controllable polarization state.

Seeded and unseeded high-order parametric down-conversion

Cameron Okoth, Andrea Cavanna, Nicolas Joly, Maria Chekhova

Spontaneous parametric down-conversion (SPDC) has been one of the foremost tools in quantum optics for over five decades. Over that time, it has been used to demonstrate some of the curious features that arise from quantum mechanics. Despite the success of SPDC, its higher-order analogs have never been observed, even though it has been suggested that they generate far more unique and exotic states than SPDC. An example of this is the emergence of non-Gaussian states without the need for postselection. Here we calculate the expected rate of emission for nth-order SPDC with and without external stimulation (seeding). Focusing primarily on third-order parametric down-conversion, we estimate the photon detection rates in a rutile crystal for both the unseeded and seeded regimes.

Pulse-repetition-rate tuning of a harmonically mode-locked fiber laser using a tapered photonic crystal fiber

Dung-Han Yeh, Wenbin He, Meng Pang, Xin Jiang, Gordon K. L. Wong, Philip St J. Russell

Strong enhancement of optoacoustic interactions in the micrometer-sized core of a photonic crystal fiber (PCF) enables stable, harmonic mode locking of a soliton fiber laser<br>at GHz frequencies. Here we report that by tapering the PCF during the draw, the optoacoustic gain bandwidth can be broadened to ∼47 MHz, more than 3 times wider than in the untapered fiber. This made possible broad pulse-repetition-rate tuning over 66 MHz (from 2.042 to 2.108 GHz) of an optoacoustically mode-locked soliton fiber laser. Within this tuning range, the harmonically mode-locked pulse trains at the laser output were observed to be quite robust, with better than 40 dB supermode suppression ratio, sub-ps pulse timing jitter, and <0.2% relative intensity noise. This gigahertz-rate, near-infrared soliton fiber laser has remarkable pulse-rate tunability and low noise level, and has important potential applications in frequency metrology, high-speed optical sampling, and fiber telecommunications.

Long-Lived Refractive-Index Changes Induced by Femtosecond Ionization in Gas-Filled Single-Ring Photonic-Crystal Fibers

Johannes R. Koehler, Felix Köttig, Barbara M. Trabold, Francesco Tani, Philip St. J. Russell

We investigate refractive-index changes caused by femtosecond photoionization in a gas-filled hollow-core photonic-crystal fiber. Using spatially-resolved interferometric side-probing, we find that these changes live for tens of microseconds after the photoionization event — eight orders of magnitude longer than the pulse duration. Oscillations in the megahertz frequency range are simultaneously observed, caused by mechanical vibrations of the thin-walled capillaries surrounding the hollow core. These two nonlocal effects can affect the propagation of a second pulse that arrives within their lifetime, which works out to repetition rates of tens of kilohertz. Filling the fiber with an atomically lighter gas significantly reduces ionization, lessening the strength of the refractive-index changes. The results will be important for understanding the dynamics of gas-based fiber systems operating at high intensities and high repetition rates, when temporally nonlocal interactions between successive laser pulses become relevant.

Excitation of higher-order modes in optofluidic photonic crystal fiber

Andrei Ruskuc, Philipp Koehler, Marius A. Weber, Ana Andres-Arroyo, Michael H. Frosz, Philip St. J. Russell, Tijmen G. Euser

Higher-order modes up to LP33 are controllably excited in water-filled kagomé- and bandgap-style hollow-core photonic crystal fibers (HC-PCF). A spatial light modulator is used to create amplitude and phase distributions that closely match those of the fiber modes, resulting in typical launch efficiencies of 10–20% into the liquid-filled core. Modes, excited across the visible wavelength range, closely resemble those observed in air-filled kagomé HC-PCF and match numerical simulations. Mode indices are obtained by launching plane-waves at specific angles onto the fiber input-face and comparing the resulting intensity pattern to that of a particular mode. These results provide a framework for spatially-resolved sensing in HC-PCF microreactors and fiber-based optical manipulation.

Strong circular dichroism for the HE11 mode in twisted single-ring hollow-core photonic crystal fiber

Paul Roth, Yang Chen, Mehmet Can Günendi, Ramin Beravat, Nitin N. Edavalath, Michael H. Frosz, Goran Ahmed, Gordon K. L. Wong, Philip St. J. Russell

We report a series of experimental, analytical, and numerical studies demonstrating strong circular dichroism for the HE11-like core mode in helically twisted hollow-core single-ring photonic crystal fiber (SR-PCF), formed by spinning the preform during fiber drawing. In the SR-PCFs studied, the hollow core is surrounded by a single ring of nontouching capillaries. Coupling between these capillaries results in the formation of helical Bloch modes carrying orbital angular momentum. When twisted, strong circular birefringence appears in the ring, so that coupling to the core mode is possible for only one circular polarization state. The result is a SR-PCF that acts as a circular polarizer, offering 1.4 dB/m for the low-loss polarization state and 9.7 dB/m for the high-loss state over a 25 nm band centered at 1593 nm wavelength. In addition, we report for the first time that the vector fields of the helical Bloch modes are perfectly periodic when evaluated in cylindrical coordinates. Such fibers have many potential applications, such as generating circularly polarized light in gas-filled SR-PCF and realizing polarizing elements in the deep and vacuum ultraviolet.

Broadband and tunable time-resolved THz system using argon-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fiber

Wei Cui, Aidan W. Schiff-Kearn, Emily Zhang, Nicolas Couture, Francesco Tani, David Novoa, Philip St. J. Russell, Jean-Michel Ménard

We demonstrate broadband, frequency-tunable, phase-locked terahertz (THz) generation and detection based on difference frequency mixing of temporally and spectrally structured near-infrared (NIR) pulses. The pulses are prepared in a gas-filled hollow-core<br>photonic crystal fiber (HC-PCF), whose linear and nonlinear optical properties can be adjusted by tuning the gas pressure. This permits optimization of both the spectral broadening of the pulses due to self-phase modulation (SPM) and the generated THz spectrum. The properties of the prepared pulses, measured at several different argon gas pressures, agree well with the results of numerical modeling. Using these pulses, we perform difference frequency generation in a standard time-resolved THz scheme. As the argon pressure is gradually increased from 0 to 10 bar, the NIR pulses spectrally broaden from 3.5 to 8.7 THz, while the measured THz bandwidth increases correspondingly from 2.3 to 4.5 THz. At 10 bar, the THz spectrum extends to 6 THz, limited only by the spectral bandwidth of our time-resolved detection scheme. Interestingly, SPM in the HC-PCF produces asymmetric spectral broadening that may be used to enhance the generation of selected THz frequencies. This scheme, based on a HC-PCF pulse shaper, holds great promise for broadband time-domain spectroscopy in the THz, enabling the use of compact and stable ultrafast laser sources with relatively narrow linewidths (<4 THz).

Long-range optical trapping and binding of microparticles in hollow-core photonic crystal fibre

Dmitry S. Bykov, Shangran Xie, Richard Zeltner, Andrey Machnev, Gordon K. L. Wong, Tijmen G. Euser, Philip St. J. Russell

Optically levitated micro- and nanoparticles offer an ideal playground for investigating photon–phonon interactions over macroscopic distances. Here we report the observation of long-range optical binding of multiple levitated microparticles, mediated by intermodal scattering and interference inside the evacuated core of a hollow-core photonic crystal fibre (HC-PCF). Three polystyrene particles with a diameter of 1 μm are stably bound together with an inter-particle distance of ~40 μm, or 50 times longer than the wavelength of the trapping laser. The levitated bound-particle array can be translated to-and-fro over centimetre distances along the fibre. When evacuated to a gas pressure of 6 mbar, the collective mechanical modes of the bound-particle array are able to be observed. The measured inter-particle distance at equilibrium and mechanical eigenfrequencies are supported by a novel analytical formalism modelling the dynamics of the binding process. The HC-PCF system offers a unique platform for investigating the rich optomechanical dynamics of arrays of levitated particles in a well-isolated and protected environment.

High-resolution multimodal flexible coherent Raman endoscope

Alberto Lombardini, Vasyl Mytskaniuk, Siddharth Sivankutty, Esben Ravn Andresen, Xueqin Chen, Jérôme Wenger, Marc Fabert, Nicolas Y. Joly, Frédéric Louradour, et al.

Coherent Raman scattering microscopy is a fast, label-free, and chemically specific imaging technique that shows high potential for future in vivo optical histology. However, the imaging depth in tissues is limited to the sub-millimeter range because of absorption and scattering. Realization of coherent Raman imaging using a fiber endoscope system is a crucial step towards imaging deep inside living tissues and providing information that is inaccessible with current microscopy tools. Until now, the development of coherent Raman endoscopy has been hampered by several issues, mainly related to the fiber delivery of the excitation pulses and signal collection. Here, we present a flexible, compact, coherent Raman, and multimodal nonlinear endoscope (4.2 mm outer diameter, 71 mm rigid length) based on a resonantly scanned hollow-core Kagomé lattice double-clad fiber. The fiber design enables distortion-less, background-free delivery of femtosecond excitation pulses and back-collection of nonlinear signals through the same fiber. Sub-micrometer spatial resolution over a large field of view is obtained by combination of a miniature objective lens with a silica microsphere lens inserted into the fiber core. We demonstrate high-resolution, high-contrast coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering, and second harmonic generation endoscopic imaging of biological tissues over a field of view of 320 µm at a rate of 0.8 frames per second. These results pave the way for intraoperative label-free imaging applied to real-time histopathology diagnosis and surgery guidance.

Dispersion tuning in sub-micron tapers for third-harmonic and photon triplet generation

Jonas Hammer, Andrea Cavanna, Riccardo Pennetta, Maria Chekhova, Philip St. J. Russell, Nicolas Joly

Precise control of the dispersion landscape is of crucial importance if optical fibers are to be successfully used for the generation of three-photon states of light—the inverse of third-harmonic generation (THG). Here we report gas-tuning of intermodal phase-matched THG in sub-micron-diameter tapered optical fiber. By adjusting the pressure of the surrounding argon gas up to 50 bars, intermodally phase-matched third-harmonic light can be generated for pump wavelengths within a 15 nm range around 1.38 μm. We also measure the infrared fluorescence generated in the fiber when pumped in the visible and estimate that the accidental coincidence rate in this signal is lower than the predicted detection rate of photon triplets

Dominance of backward stimulated Raman scattering in gas-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fibers

Manoj Kumar Mridha, David Novoa, Philip Russell

Backward stimulated Raman scattering in gases provides a promising route to the compression and amplification of a Stokes seed pulse by counter-propagating against a pump pulse, as has been demonstrated already in various platforms, mainly in free space. However, the dynamics governing this process when seeded by noise has not yet been investigated in a fully controllable collinear environment. Here we report, to the best of our knowledge, the first unambiguous observation of efficient noise-seeded backward stimulated Raman scattering in a hydrogen-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fiber. At high gas pressures, when the backward Raman gain is comparable to, but lower than, the forward gain, we report quantum conversion efficiencies exceeding 40% to the backward Stokes at 683 nm from a narrowband 532 nm pump. Efficiency increases to 65% when the backward process is seeded by a small amount of back-reflected forward-generated Stokes light. At high pump powers, the backward Stokes signal, emitted in a clean fundamental mode and spectrally pure, is unexpectedly always stronger than its forward-propagating counterpart. We attribute this striking observation to the unique temporal dynamics of the interacting fields, which cause the Raman coherence (which takes the form of a moving fine-period Bragg grating) to grow in strength toward the input end of the fiber. A good understanding of this process, together with the rapid development of novel anti-resonant-guiding hollow-core fibers, may lead to improved designs of efficient gas-based Raman lasers and amplifiers operating at wavelengths from the ultraviolet to the mid-infrared.

UV Soliton Dynamics and Raman-Enhanced Supercontinuum Generation in Photonic Crystal Fiber

Pooria Hosseini, Alexey Ermolov, Francesco Tani, David Novoa, Philip Russell

Ultrafast broadband ultraviolet radiation is of importance in spectroscopy and photochemistry, since high photon energies enable single-photon excitations and ultrashort pulses allow time-resolved studies. Here we report the use of gas-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fibers (HC-PCFs) for efficient ultrafast nonlinear optics in the ultraviolet. Soliton selfcompression of 400 nm pulses of (unprecedentedly low) ∼500 nJ energies down to sub-6 fs durations is achieved, as well as resonant emission of tunable dispersive waves from these solitons. In addition, we discuss the generation of a flat supercontinuum extending from the deep ultraviolet to the visible in a hydrogen-filled HC-PCF. Comparisons with argon-filled fibers show that the enhanced Raman gain at high frequencies makes the hydrogen system more efficient. As HC-PCF technology develops, we expect these fiber-based ultraviolet sources to lead to new applications.

Stable Immobilization of Size‐Controlled Bimetallic Nanoparticles in Photonic Crystal Fiber Microreactor

Sebastian Ponce, Macarena Munoz, Ana M. Cubillas, Tijmen G. Euser, Gui-Rong Zhang, Philip St. J. Russell, Peter Wasserscheid, Bastian J. M. Etzold

The possibility of immobilizing ex situ‐synthesized colloidal bimetallic nanoparticles (NPs) of well‐defined characteristics inside hollow core photonic crystal fiber (HC‐PCF) microreactors is demonstrated. With the developed method, PtNi clusters remain strongly attached to the fiber core and can be used as active catalysts for the hydrogenation of an azobenzene dye. The study revealed that optical transmission exhibits a size‐dependent behavior, i.e., smaller NPs bring in less optical signal loss. Sufficient light transmission was achieved for all particle sizes. Furthermore, with these catalytic PCF microreactors, kinetic data can be obtained with a much lower amount of precious metals compared to a conventional batch reactor, opening a new pathway for in situ catalyst screening.

Highly Sensitive Luminescence Detection of Photosensitized Singlet Oxygen within Photonic Crystal Fibers

Gareth O. S. Williams, Tijmen G. Euser, Philip St. J. Russell, Alexander J. MacRobert, Anita C. Jones

Highly sensitive, quantitative detection of singlet oxygen (1O2) is required for the evaluation of newly developed photosensitizers and the elucidation of the mechanisms of many processes in which singlet oxygen is known or believed to be involved. The direct detection of 1O2 through its intrinsic phosphorescence at 1270 nm is challenging, because of the extremely low intensity of this emission, coupled with the low quantum efficiency of currently available photodetectors at this wavelength. We introduce hollow‐core photonic crystal fibers (HC‐PCF) as a novel optofluidic modality for photosensitization and detection of 1O2. We report the use of this approach to achieve highly sensitive detection of the luminescence decay of 1O2 produced by using two common photosensitizers, Rose Bengal and Hypericin, within the 60‐μm diameter core of a 15 cm length of HC‐PCF. We demonstrate the feasibility of directly detecting sub‐picomole quantities of 1O2 by using this methodology, and identify some aspects of the HC‐PCF technology that can be improved to yield even higher detection sensitivity.

Flying particle microlaser and temperature sensor in hollow-core photonic crystal fiber

Richard Zeltner, Riccardo Pennetta, Shangran Xie, Philip Russell

Whispering-gallery mode (WGM) resonators combine small optical mode volumes with narrow resonance linewidths, making them exciting platforms for a variety of applications. Here we report a flying WGM microlaser, realized by optically trapping a dye-doped microparticle within a liquid-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fiber (HC-PCF) using a CW laser and then pumping it with a pulsed excitation laser whose wavelength matches the absorption band of the dye. The laser emits into core-guided modes that can be detected at the endfaces of the HC-PCF. Using radiation forces, the microlaser can be freely propelled along the HC-PCF over multi-centimeter distances—orders of magnitude farther than in previous experiments where tweezers and fiber traps were used. The system can be used to measure temperature with high spatial resolution, by exploiting the temperature-dependent frequency shift of the lasing modes, and may also permit precise delivery of light to remote locations.

Effect of anti-crossings with cladding resonances on ultrafast nonlinear dynamics in gas-filled photonic crystal fibers

Francesco Tani, Felix Köttig, David Novoa, Ralf Keding, Philip Russell

Spectral anti-crossings between the fundamental guided mode and core-wall resonances alter the dispersion in hollow-core anti-resonant-reflection photonic crystal fibers. Here we study the effect of this dispersion change on the nonlinear propagation and dynamics of ultrashort pulses. We find that it causes emission of narrow spectral peaks through a combination of four-wave mixing and dispersive wave emission. We further investigate the influence of the anti-crossings on nonlinear pulse propagation and show that their impact can be minimized by adjusting the core-wall thickness in such a way that the anti-crossings lie spectrally distant from the pump wavelength.

Control of ultrafast pulses in a hydrogen-filled hollow-core photonic-crystal fiber by Raman coherence

Federico Belli, Amir Abdolvand, John Travers, Philip Russell

We present the results of an experimental and numerical investigation into temporally nonlocal coherent interactions between ultrashort pulses, mediated by Raman coherence, in a gas-filled kagome-style hollow-core photonic-crystal fiber. A pump pulse first sets up the Raman coherence, creating a refractive index spatiotemporal<br>grating in the gas that travels at the group velocity of the pump pulse. Varying the arrival time of a second, probe, pulse allows a high degree of control over its evolution as it propagates along the fiber through the grating. Of particular interest are soliton-driven effects such as self-compression and dispersive wave (DW) emission. In the experiments reported, a DW is emitted at ∼300 nm and exhibits a wiggling effect, with its central frequency oscillating periodically with pump-probe delay. The results demonstrate that a strong Raman coherence, created in a broadband guiding gas-filled kagome photonic-crystal fiber, can be used to control the nonlinear dynamics of ultrashort probe pulses, even in difficult-to-access spectral regions such as the deep and vacuum ultraviolet.

Three-dimensional holographic optical manipulation through a high-numerical-aperture soft-glass multimode fibre

Ivo T. Leite, Sergey Turtaev, Xin Jiang, Martin Siler, Alfred Cuschieri, Philip St. J. Russell, Tomas Cizmar

Holographic optical tweezers (HOT) hold great promise for many applications in biophotonics, allowing the creation and measurement of minuscule forces on biomolecules, molecular motors and cells. Geometries used in HOT currently rely on bulk optics, and their exploitation in vivo is compromised by the optically turbid nature of tissues. We present an alternative HOT approach in which multiple three-dimensional (3D) traps are introduced through a high-numerical-aperture multimode optical fibre, thus enabling an equally versatile means of manipulation through channels having cross-section comparable to the size of a single cell. Our work demonstrates real-time manipulation of 3D arrangements of micro-objects, as well as manipulation inside otherwise inaccessible cavities. We show that the traps can be formed over fibre lengths exceeding 100 mm and positioned with nanometric resolution. The results provide the basis for holographic manipulation and other high-numerical-aperture techniques, including advanced microscopy, through single-core-fibre endoscopes deep inside living tissues and other complex environments.

Enhanced Control of Transient Raman Scattering Using Buffered Hydrogen in Hollow-Core Photonic Crystal Fibers

P. Hosseini, D. Novoa, A. Abdolvand, P. St. J. Russell

Many reports on stimulated Raman scattering in mixtures of Raman-active and noble gases indicate that the addition of a dispersive buffer gas increases the phase mismatch to higher-order Stokes and anti-Stokes sidebands, resulting in a preferential conversion to the first few Stokes lines, accompanied by a significant reduction in the Raman gain due to collisions with gas molecules. Here we report that, provided the dispersion can be precisely controlled, the effective Raman gain in a gas-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fiber can actually be significantly enhanced when a buffer gas is added. This counterintuitive behavior occurs when the nonlinear coupling between the interacting fields is strong and can result in a performance similar to that of a pure Raman-active gas, but at a much lower total gas pressure, allowing competing effects such as Raman backscattering to be suppressed. We report high modal purity in all the emitted sidebands, along with anti-Stokes conversion efficiencies as high as 5% in the visible and 2% in the ultraviolet. This new class of gas-based waveguide device, which allows the nonlinear optical response to be beneficially pressure-tuned by the addition of buffer gases, may find important applications in laser science and spectroscopy.

Universality of Coherent Raman Gain Suppression in Gas-Filled Broadband-Guiding Photonic Crystal Fibers

Pooria Hosseini, M. K. Mridha, D. Novoa, A. Abdolvand, P. St. J. Russell

As shown in the early 1960s, the gain in stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) is drastically suppressed when the rate of creation of phonons (via a pump-to-Stokes conversion) is exactly balanced by the rate of phonon annihilation (via a pump-to-anti-Stokes conversion). This occurs when the phonon coherence waves-synchronized vibrations of a large population of molecules-have identical propagation constants for both processes; i. e., they are phase-velocity matched. As recently demonstrated, hydrogen-filled photonic crystal fiber pumped in the vicinity of its zero-dispersion wavelength provides an ideal system for observing this effect. Here we report that Raman gain suppression is actually a universal feature of SRS in gas-filled hollow-core fibers and that it can strongly impair SRS even when the phase mismatch is high, particularly at high pump powers when it is normally assumed that nonlinear processes become more (not less) efficient. This counterintuitive result means that intermodal stimulated Raman scattering (for example, between LP01 and LP11 core modes) begins to dominate at high power levels. The results reported have important implications for fiber-based Raman shifters, amplifiers, or frequency combs, especially for operation in the ultraviolet, where the Raman gain is much higher.

Low-loss single-mode negatively curved square-core hollow fibers

Yang Chen, Mohammed F. Saleh, Nicolas Y. Joly, Fabio Biancalana

We introduce a novel design of anti-resonant fibers with negative-curvature square cores to be employed in 1.55 and 2.94 mu m transmission bands. The fibers have low losses and single-mode operation via optimizing the negative curvature of the guiding walls. The first proposed fiber shows a broadband transmission window spanning 0.9-1.7 mu m, with losses of 0.025 and 0.056 dB/m at 1.064 and 1.55 mu m, respectively. The second proposed fiber has approximately a 0.023 dB/m guiding loss at 2.94 mu m with a small cross-sectional area, useful for laser micromachining applications. (C) 2017 Optical Society of America

Polarization-Selective Out-Coupling of Whispering-Gallery Modes

Florian Sedlmeir, Matthew R. Foreman, Ulrich Vogl, Richard Zeltner, Gerhard Schunk, Dmitry V. Strekalov, Christoph Marquardt, Gerd Leuchs, Harald G. L. Schwefel

Whispering-gallery mode (WGM) resonators are an important platform for linear, nonlinear, and quantum optical experiments. In such experiments, independent control of in-coupling and out-coupling rates to different modes can lead to higher conversion efficiencies and greater flexibility in the generation of nonclassical states based on parametric down-conversion. In this work, we introduce a scheme that enables selective out-coupling of WGMs belonging to a specific polarization family, while the orthogonally polarized modes remain largely unperturbed. Our technique utilizes material birefringence in both the resonator and the coupler such that a negative (positive) birefringence allows for polarization-selective coupling to TE (TM) WGMs. We formulate a refined coupling condition suitable for describing the case where the refractive indices of the resonator and the coupler are almost the same, from which we derive a criterion for polarization-selective coupling. Finally, we experimentally demonstrate our proposed method using a lithium niobate disk resonator coupled to a lithium niobate prism, where we show a 22-dB suppression of coupling to TM modes relative to TE modes.

Hybrid photonic-crystal fiber

Christos Markos, John C. Travers, Amir Abdolvand, Benjamin J. Eggleton, Ole Bang

This article offers an extensive survey of results obtained using hybrid photonic-crystal fibers (PCFs) which constitute one of the most active research fields in contemporary fiber optics. The ability to integrate novel and functional materials in solid-and hollow-core PCFs through various postprocessing methods has enabled new directions toward understanding fundamental linear and nonlinear phenomena as well as novel application aspects, within the fields of optoelectronics, material and laser science, remote sensing, and spectroscopy. Here the recent progress in the field of hybrid PCFs is reviewed from scientific and technological perspectives, focusing on how different fluids, solids, and gases can significantly extend the functionality of PCFs. The first part of this review discusses the efforts to develop tunable linear and nonlinear fiber-optic devices using PCFs infiltrated with various liquids, glasses, semiconductors, and metals. The second part concentrates on recent and state-of-the-art advances in the field of gas-filled hollow-core PCFs. Extreme ultrafast gas-based nonlinear optics toward light generation in the extreme wavelength regions of vacuum ultraviolet, pulse propagation, and compression dynamics in both atomic and molecular gases, and novel soliton-plasma interactions are reviewed. A discussion of future prospects and directions is also included.

Helically twisted photonic crystal fibres

P. St. J. Russell, Ramin Beravat, G. K. L. Wong

Recent theoretical and experimental work on helically twisted photonic crystal fibres (PCFs) is reviewed. Helical Bloch theory is introduced, including a new formalism based on the tight-binding approximation. It is used to explore and explain a variety of unusual effects that appear in a range of different twisted PCFs, including fibres with a single core and fibres with N cores arranged in a ring around the fibre axis. We discuss a new kind of birefringence that causes the propagation constants of left-and rightspinning optical vortices to be non-degenerate for the same order of orbital angular momentum (OAM). Topological effects, arising from the twisted periodic 'space', cause light to spiral around the fibre axis, with fascinating consequences, including the appearance of dips in the transmission spectrum and low loss guidance in coreless PCF. Discussing twisted fibres with a single off-axis core, we report that optical activity in a PCF is opposite in sign to that seen in a step-index fibre. Fabrication techniques are briefly described and emerging applications reviewed. The analytical results of helical Bloch theory are verified by an extensive series of 'numerical experiments' based on finite-element solutions of Maxwell's equations in a helicoidal frame. This article is part of the themed issue 'Optical orbital angular momentum'.

Characterization and shaping of the time-frequency Schmidt mode spectrum of bright twin beams generated in gas-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fibers

M. A. Finger, N. Y. Joly, P. St. J. Russell, M. V. Chekhova

We vary the time-frequency mode structure of ultrafast pulse-pumped modulational instability (MI) twin beams in an argon-filled hollow-core kagome-style photonic crystal fiber by adjusting the pressure, pump pulse chirp, fiber length, and parametric gain. Compared to solid-core systems, the pressure-dependent dispersion landscape brings increased flexibility to the tailoring of frequency correlations, and we demonstrate that the pump pulse chirp can be used to tune the joint spectrum of femtosecond-pumped.(3) sources. We also characterize the resulting mode content, not only by measuring the multimode second-order correlation function g((2)), but also by directly reconstructing the shapes and weights of time-frequency Schmidt (TFS) modes. We show that the number of modes directly influences the shot-to-shot pulse-energy and spectral-shape fluctuations in MI. Using this approach we control and monitor the number of TFS modes within the range from 1.3 to 4 using only a single fiber.

Rapid screening of photoactivatable metallodrugs: photonic crystal fibre microflow reactor coupled to ESI mass spectrometry

Ruth J. McQuitty, Sarah Unterkofler, Tijmen G. Euser, Philip St J. Russell, Peter J. Sadler

We explore the efficacy of a hyphenated photonic crystal fibre microflow reactor-high-resolution mass spectrometer system as a method for screening the activity of potential new photoactivatable drugs. The use of light to activate drugs is an area of current development as it offers the possibility of reduced side effects due to improved spatial and temporal targeting and novel mechanisms of anticancer activity. The di-nuclear ruthenium complex [{(eta(6)-indan) RuCl}(2)(mu-2,3-dpp)](PF6)(2), previously studied by Magennis et al. (Inorg. Chem., 2007, 46, 5059) is used as a model drug to compare the system to standard irradiation techniques. The photodecomposition pathways using blue light radiation are the same for PCF and conventional cuvette methods. Reactions in the presence of small biomolecules 50-guanosine monophosphate (5'-GMP), 5'-adenosine monophosphate (5'-AMP), L-cysteine (L-Cys) and glutathione (gamma-L-glutamyl-L-cysteinyl-glycine, GSH) were studied. The complex was found to bind to nucleobases in the dark and this binding increased upon irradiation with 488 nm light, forming the adducts [(eta(6)-indan) Ru2(mu-2,3-dpp) + 5'-GMP](2+) and [(eta(6)-indan) Ru + (5'-AMP)]+. These findings are consistent with studies using conventional methods. The dinuclear complex also binds strongly to GSH after irradiation, a possible explanation for its lack of potency in cell line testing. The use of the PCF-MS system dramatically reduced the sample volume required and reduced the irradiation time by four orders of magnitude from 14 hours to 12 seconds. However, the reduced sample volume also results in a reduced MS signal intensity. The dead time of the combined system is 15 min, limited by the intrinsic dead volume of the HR-MS.

Effect of stray fields on Rydberg states in hollow-core PCF probed by higher-order modes

G. Epple, N. Y. Joly, T. G. Euser, P. St. J. Russell, R. Loew

The spectroscopy of atomic gases confined in hollow-core photonic crystal fiber (HC-PCF) provides optimal atom-light coupling beyond the diffraction limit, which is desirable for various applications such as sensing, referencing, and nonlinear optics. Recently, coherent spectroscopy was carried out on highly excited Rydberg states at room temperature in a gas-filled HC-PCF. The large polarizability of the Rydberg states made it possible to detect weak electric fields inside the fiber. In this Letter, we show that by combining highly excited Rydberg states with higher-order optical modes, we can gain insight into the distribution and underlying effects of these electric fields. Comparisons between experimental findings and simulations indicate that the fields are caused by the dipole moments of atoms adsorbed on the hollow-core wall. Knowing the origin of the electric fields is an important step towards suppressing them in future HC-PCF experiments. Furthermore, a better understanding of the influence of adatoms will be advantageous for optimizing electric-fieldsensitive experiments carried out in the vicinity of nearby surfaces. (C) 2017 Optical Society of America

Generation of spectral clusters in a mixture of noble and Raman-active gases (vol 41, pg 5543, 2016)

Pooria Hosseini, Amir Abdolvand, Philip St. J. Russell

Mid-infrared dispersive wave generation in gas-filled photonic crystal fibre by transient ionization-driven changes in dispersion

F. Koettig, D. Novoa, F. Tani, M. C. Guenendi, M. Cassataro, J. C. Travers, P. St. J. Russell

Gas-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fibre is being used to generate ever wider super-continuum spectra, in particular via dispersive wave emission in the deep and vacuum ultraviolet, with a multitude of applications. Dispersive waves are the result of nonlinear transfer of energy from a self-compressed soliton, a process that relies crucially on phase-matching. It was recently predicted that, in the strong-field regime, the additional transient anomalous dispersion introduced by gas ionization would allow phase-matched dispersive wave generation in the mid-infrared-something that is forbidden in the absence of free electrons. Here we report the experimental observation of such mid-infrared dispersive waves, embedded in a 4.7-octave-wide supercontinuum that uniquely reaches simultaneously to the vacuum ultraviolet, with up to 1.7W of total average power.

Free space excitation of coupled Anderson-localized modes in photonic crystal waveguides with polarization tailored beam

Ali Mahdavi, Paul Roth, Jolly Xavier, Taofiq K. Paraiso, Peter Banzer, Frank Vollmer

We experimentally demonstrate free space excitation of coupled Anderson-localized modes in photonic crystal (PhC) line-defect waveguides (W1) with polarization tailored beams. The corresponding light beam is tightly focused on a pristine W1, and out-of-plane scattering is imaged. By integrating the scattering spectra along the guide, at the W1 modal cut-off, Anderson-localized cavities are observed due to residual W1 fabrication-disorder. Their spectral lines exhibit high quality Q factors up to 2 x 10(5). The incident beam polarization and scattering intensities of the localized modes characterize the efficiency of free-space coupling. The coupling is studied for linearly and radially polarized input beams and for different input coupling locations along the W1 guide. The proposed coupling scheme is particularly attractive for excitation of PhC waveguide modes and Anderson-localized cavities by beam steering and scanning microscopy for sensing applications. Published by AIP Publishing.

Generation of broadband mid-IR and UV light in gas-filled single-ring hollow-core PCF

Marco Cassataro, David Novoa, Mehmet C. Guenendi, Nitin N. Edavalath, Michael H. Frosz, John C. Travers, Philip St. J. Russell

We report generation of an ultrafast supercontinuum extending into the mid-infrared in gas-filled single-ring hollow-core photonic crystal fiber (SR-PCF) pumped by 1.7 mu m light from an optical parametric amplifier. The simple fiber structure offers shallow dispersion and flat transmission in the near and mid-infrared, enabling the generation of broadband spectra extending from 270 nm to 3.1 mu m, with a total energy of a few mu J. In addition, we demonstrate the emission of ultraviolet dispersive waves whose frequency can be tuned simply by adjusting the pump wavelength. SR-PCF thus constitutes an effective means of compressing and delivering tunable ultrafast pulses in the near and mid-infrared spectral regions. (C) 2017 Optical Society of America

High average power and single-cycle pulses from a mid-IR optical parametric chirped pulse amplifier

Ugaitz Elu, Matthias Baudisch, Hugo Pires, Francesco Tani, Michael H. Frosz, Felix Koettig, Alexey Ermolov, Philip St J. Russell, Jens Biegert

In attosecond and strong-field physics, the acquisition of data in an acceptable time demands the combination of high peak power with high average power. We report a 21 W mid-IR optical parametric chirped pulse amplifier (OPCPA) that generates 131 mu J and 97 fs (sub-9-cycle) pulses at a 160 kHz repetition rate and at a center wavelength of 3.25 mu m. Pulse-to-pulse stability of the carrier envelope phase (CEP)-stable output is excellent with a 0.33% rms over 288 million pulses (30 min) and compression close to a single optical cycle was achieved through soliton self-compression inside a gas-filled mid-IR antiresonant-guiding photonic crystal fiber. Without any additional compression device, stable generation of 14.5 fs (1.35-optical-cycle) pulses was achieved at an average power of 9.6 W. The resulting peak power of 3.9 GW in combination with the near-single-cycle duration and intrinsic CEP stability makes our OPCPA a key-enabling technology for the next generation of extreme photonics, strong-field attosecond research, and coherent x-ray science. (C) 2017 Optical Society of America

PHz-Wide Spectral Interference Through Coherent Plasma-Induced Fission of Higher-Order Solitons

F. Koettig, F. Tani, J. C. Travers, P. St. J. Russell

We identify a novel regime of soliton-plasma interactions in which high-intensity ultrashort pulses of intermediate soliton order undergo coherent plasma-induced fission. Experimental results obtained in gas-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fiber are supported by rigorous numerical simulations. In the anomalous dispersion regime, the cumulative blueshift of higher-order input solitons with ionizing intensities results in pulse splitting before the ultimate self-compression point, leading to the generation of robust pulse pairs with PHz bandwidths. The novel dynamics closes the gap between plasma-induced adiabatic soliton compression and modulational instability.

Broadband, Lensless, and Optomechanically Stabilized Coupling into Microfluidic Hollow-Core Photonic Crystal Fiber Using Glass Nanospike

Richard Zeltner, Shangran Xie, Riccardo Pennetta, Philip St J. Russell

We report a novel technique for launching broadband laser light into liquid-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fiber (HC-PCF). It uniquely offers self alignment and self-stabilization via optomechanical trapping of a,fused silica nanospike, fabricated by thermally tapering and chemically etching a single mode fiber into a tip diameter of 350 nm. We show that a trapping laser, deliirering similar to 300 mW at 1064 nm, can be used to optically align and stably maintain the iianospike at the core center. Once this is done, a weak broadband supercontinuum signal (similar to 575-1064 nm) can be efficiently and close to achromatically launched in the HC-PCF. The system is robust against liquid-flow in either direction inside the HC-PCF, and the Fresnel back-reflections are reduced to negligible levels compared to free-space launching or butt-coupling. The results are of potential relevance for any application where the efficient delivery of broadband light into liquid-core waveguides is desired.

Photochemistry in a soft-glass single-ring hollow-core photonic crystal fibre

Ana M. Cubillas, Xin Jiang, Tijmen G. Euser, Nicola Taccardi, Bastian J. M. Etzold, Peter Wasserscheid, Philip St. J. Russell

A hollow-core photonic crystal fibre (HC-PCF), guided by photonic bandgap effects or anti-resonant reflection, offers strong light confinement and long photochemical interaction lengths in a microscale channel filled with a solvent of refractive index lower than that of glass (usually fused silica). These unique advantages have motivated its recent use as a highly efficient and versatile microreactor for liquid-phase photochemistry and catalysis. In this work, we use a single-ring HC-PCF made from a high-index soft glass, thus enabling photochemical experiments in higher index solvents. The optimized light-matter interaction in the fibre is used to strongly enhance the reaction rate in a proof-of-principle photolysis reaction in toluene.

Continuously wavelength-tunable high harmonic generation via soliton dynamics

Francesco Tani, Michael H. Frosz, John C. Travers, Philip St. J. Russell

We report the generation of high harmonics in a gas jet pumped by pulses self-compressed in a He-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fiber through the soliton effect. The gas jet is placed directly at the fiber output. As the energy increases, the ionization-induced soliton blueshift is transferred to the high harmonics, leading to emission bands that are continuously tunable from 17 to 45 eV. (C) 2017 Optical Society of America

Higher-order mode suppression in twisted single-ring hollow-core photonic crystal fibers

N. N. Edavalath, M. C. Guenendi, R. Beravat, G. K. L. Wong, M. H. Frosz, J. -M. Menard, P. St. J. Russell

A hollow-core single-ring photonic crystal fiber (SR-PCF) consists of a ring of capillaries arranged around a central hollow core. Spinning the preform during drawing introduces a continuous helical twist, offering a novel means of controlling the modal properties of hollow-core SR-PCF. For example, twisting geometrically increases the effective axial propagation constant of the LP01-like modes of the capillaries, providing a means of optimizing the suppression of HOMs, which occurs when the LP11-like core mode phase-matches to the LP01-like modes of the surrounding capillaries. (In a straight fiber, optimum suppression occurs for a capillary-to-core diameter ratio d/D = 0.682.) Twisting also introduces circular birefringence (to be studied in a future Letter) and has a remarkable effect on the transverse intensity profiles of the higher-order core modes, forcing the two-lobed LP11-like mode in the untwisted fiber to become three-fold symmetric in the twisted case. These phenomena are explored by means of extensive numerical modeling, an analytical model, and a series of experiments. Prism-assisted side-coupling is used to measure the losses, refractive indices, and near-field patterns of individual fiber modes in both the straight and twisted cases. (C) 2017 Optical Society of America

Generation of microjoule pulses in the deep ultraviolet at megahertz repetition rates

Felix Koettig, Francesco Tani, Christian Martens-Biersach, John C. Travers, Philip St J. Russell

Although ultraviolet (UV) light is important in many areas of science and technology, there are very few if any lasers capable of delivering wavelength-tunable ultrashort UV pulses at high repetition rates. Here we report the generation of deep UV laser pulses at megahertz repetition rates and microjoule energies by means of dispersive wave (DW) emission from self-compressed solitons in gas-filled single-ring hollow-core photonic crystal fiber (SR-PCF). Pulses from an ytterbium fiber laser (similar to 300 fs) are first compressed to <25 fs in a SR-PCF-based nonlinear compression stage and subsequently used to pump a second SR-PCF stage for broadband DW generation in the deep UV. The UV wavelength is tunable by selecting the gas species and the pressure. Through rigorous optimization of the system, in particular employing a large-core fiber filled with light noble gases, we achieve 1 mu J pulse energies in the deep UV, which is more than 10 times higher, at average powers more than four orders of magnitude greater (reaching 1 W) than previously demonstrated, with only 20 mu J pulses from the pump laser. (C) 2017 Optical Society of America

Broadband high-resolution multi-species CARS in gas-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fiber

Barbara M. Trabold, Robert J. R. Hupfer, Amir Abdolvand, Philip St. J. Russell

We report the use of coherent anti-Stokes Raman spectros-copy (CARS) in gas-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fiber (HC-PCF) for trace gas detection. The long optical path-lengths yield a 60 dB increase in the signal level compared with free-space arrangements. This enables a relatively weak supercontinuum (SC) to be used as Stokes seed, along with a ns pump pulse, paving the way for broadband (> 4000 cm(-1)) single-shot CARS with an unprecedented resolution of similar to 100 MHz. A kagome-style HC-PCF provides broadband guidance, and, by operating close to the pressure-tunable zero dispersion wavelength, we can ensure simultaneous phase-matching of all gas species. We demonstrate simultaneous measurement of the concentrations of multiple trace gases in a gas sample introduced into the core of the HC-PCF. (C) 2017 Optical Society of America

Coherent control of flexural vibrations in dual-nanoweb fibers using phase-modulated two-frequency light

J. R. Koehler, R. E. Noskov, A. A. Sukhorukov, D. Novoa, P. St. J. Russell

Coherent control of the resonant response in spatially extended optomechanical structures is complicated by the fact that the optical drive is affected by the backaction from the generated phonons. Here we report an approach to coherent control based on stimulated Raman-like scattering, in which the optical pressure can remain unaffected by the induced vibrations even in the regime of strong optomechanical interactions. We demonstrate experimentally coherent control of flexural vibrations simultaneously along the whole length of a dual-nanoweb fiber, by imprinting steps in the relative phase between the components of a two-frequency pump signal, the beat frequency being chosen to match a flexural resonance. Furthermore, sequential switching of the relative phase at time intervals shorter than the lifetime of the vibrations reduces their amplitude to a constant value that is fully adjustable by tuning the phase modulation depth and switching rate. The results may trigger new developments in silicon photonics, since such coherent control uniquely decouples the amplitude of optomechanical oscillations from power-dependent thermal effects and nonlinear optical loss.

Extremely broadband single-shot cross-correlation frequency-resolved optical gating using a transient grating as gate and dispersive element

H. Valtna-Lukner, F. Belli, A. Ermolov, F. Koettig, K. F. Mak, F. Tani, J. C. Travers, P. St. J. Russell

Across-correlation frequency-resolved optical gating (FROG) concept, potentially suitable for characterizing few or sub-cycle pulses in a single shot, is described in which a counter-propagating transient grating is used as both the gate and the dispersive element in a FROG spectrometer. An all-reflective setup, which can operate over the whole transmission range of the nonlinear medium, within the sensitivity range of the matrix sensor, is also proposed, and proof-of-principle experiments for the ultraviolet and visible-to-near-infrared spectral ranges are reported. Published by AIP Publishing.

Fresnel-Reflection-Free Self-Aligning Nanospike Interface between a Step-Index Fiber and a Hollow-Core Photonic-Crystal-Fiber Gas Cell

Riccardo Pennetta, Shangran Xie, Frances Lenahan, Manoj Mridha, David Novoa, Philip St. J. Russell

We report a fully integrated interface delivering efficient, reflection-free, single-mode, and self-aligned coupling between a step-index fiber and a gas-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fiber. The device offers a universal solution for interfacing solid and hollow cores and can be sealed to allow operation either evacuated or at high pressure. Stimulated Raman scattering and molecular modulation of light are demonstrated in a H-2-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fiber using the device.

Analytical formulation for the bend loss in single-ring hollow-core photonic crystal fibers

Michael H. Frosz, Paul Roth, Mehmet C. Guenendi, Philip St. J. Russell

Understanding bend loss in single-ring hollow-core photonic crystal fibers (PCFs) is becoming of increasing importance as the fibers enter practical applications. While purely numerical approaches are useful, there is a need for a simpler analytical formalism that provides physical insight and can be directly used in the design of PCFs with low bend loss. We show theoretically and experimentally that a wavelength-dependent critical bend radius exists below which the bend loss reaches a maximum, and that this can be calculated from the structural parameters of a fiber using a simple analytical formula. This allows straightforward design of single-ring PCFs that are bend-insensitive for specified ranges of bend radius and wavelength. It also can be used to derive an expression for the bend radius that yields optimal higher-order mode suppression for a given fiber structure. (C) 2017 Chinese Laser Press

Single-shot reconstruction of spectral amplitude and phase in a fiber ring cavity at a 80 MHz repetition rate

Jonas Hammer, Pooria Hosseini, Curtis R. Menyuk, Philip St. J. Russell, Nicolas Y. Joly

Femtosecond pulses circulating in a synchronously driven fiber ring cavity have complex amplitude and phase profiles that can change completely from one round-trip to the next. We use a recently developed technique, combining dispersive Fourier transformation) with spectral interferometry, to reconstruct the spectral amplitude and phase at each round-trip and, thereby, follow in detail the pulse reorganization that occurs. We focus on two different regimes: a period-two regime in which the pulse alternates between two distinct states and a highly complex regime. We characterize the spectral amplitude and phase of the pulses in both regimes at a repetition rate of 75.6 MHz and find good agreement with modeling of the system based on numerical solutions of the generalized nonlinear Schrodinger equation with feedback. (C) 2016 Optical Society of America

RF-dressed Rydberg atoms in hollow-core fibres

C. Veit, G. Epple, H. Kuebler, T. G. Euser, P. St J. Russell, R. Loew

The giant electro-optical response of Rydberg atoms manifests itself in the emergence of sidebands in the Rydberg excitation spectrum if the atom is exposed to a radio-frequency (RF) electric field. Here we report on the study of RF-dressed Rydberg atoms inside hollow-core photonic crystal fibres, a system that enables the use of low modulation voltages and offers the prospect of miniaturised vapour-based electro-optical devices. Narrow spectroscopic features caused by the RF field are observed for modulation frequencies up to 500 MHz.

Gigahertz-repetition-rate Tm-doped fiber laser passively mode-locked by optoacoustic effects in nanobore photonic crystal fiber

M. Pang, W. He, P. St. J. Russell

Optically Driven Self-Oscillations of a Silica Nanospike at Low Gas Pressures

Shangran Xie, Riccardo Pennetta, Roman E. Noskov, Philip St. J. Russell

Endlessly single-mode photonic crystal fiber as a high resolution probe

Heli Valtna-Lukner, Jaagup Repan, Sandhra-Mirella Valdma, Peeter Piksarv

Long-range optical binding in a hollow-core photonic crystal fiber using higher order modes

Dmitry S. Bykov, Richard Zeltner, Tijmen G. Euser, Shangran Xie, Philip St. J. Russell

Reducing losses in solid-core photonic crystal fibers using chlorine dehydration

Michael H. Frosz, Goran Ahmed, Nadezda Lapshina, Ralf Keding, Fehim Babic, Nicolas Y. Joly, Philip St. J. Russell

Generation of spectral clusters in a mixture of noble and Raman-active gases

Pooria Hosseini, Amir Abdolvand, Philip St J. Russell

Guiding 2.94 mu m using low-loss microstructured antiresonant triangular-core fibers

Yang Chen, Mohammed F. Saleh, Nicolas Y. Joly, Fabio Biancalana

We introduce a new simple design of hollow-core microstructured fiber targeted to guide mid-infrared light at a wavelength of 2.94 mu m. The fiber has a triangular-core supported via silica-glass webs enclosed by a large hollow capillary tube. The fiber specific dimensions are determined by the anti-resonant guiding mechanism. For a triangular-core with side length 100 mu m, the fiber has a minimum transmission loss 0.08 +/- 0.005 dB/m and dispersion 2.3 ps/km/nm at the operational wavelength of 2.94 mu m. (C) 2016 AIP Publishing LLC.

Generation of a vacuum ultraviolet to visible Raman frequency comb in H-2-filled kagome photonic crystal fiber

M. K. Mridha, D. Novoa, S. T. Bauerschmidt, A. Abdolvand, P. St J. Russell

We report on the generation of a purely vibrational Raman comb, extending from the vacuum ultraviolet (184 nm) to the visible (478 nm), in hydrogen-filled kagome-style photonic crystal fiber pumped at 266 nm. Stimulated Raman scattering and molecular modulation processes are enhanced by higher Raman gain in the ultraviolet. Owing to the pressure-tunable normal dispersion landscape of the "fiber + gas" system in the ultraviolet, higher-order anti-Stokes bands are generated preferentially in higher-order fiber modes. The results pave the way toward tunable fiber-based sources of deep and vacuum ultraviolet light for applications in, e.g., spectroscopy and biomedicine. (C) 2016 Optical Society of America

Expansion of arbitrary electromagnetic fields in terms of vector spherical wave functions

Wendel Lopes Moreira, Antonio Alvaro Ranha Neves, Martin K. Garbos, Tijmen G. Euser, Carlos Lenz Cesar

Since 1908, when Mie reported analytical expressions for the fields scattered by a spherical particle upon incidence of plane-waves, generalizing his analysis for the case of an arbitrary incident wave has been an open question because of the cancellation of the prefactor radial spherical Bessel function. This cancellation was obtained before by our own group for a highly focused beam centered in the objective. In this work, however, we show for the first time how these terms can be canceled out for any arbitrary incident field that satisfies Maxwells equations, and obtain analytical expressions for the beam shape coefficients. We show several examples on how to use our method to obtain analytical beam shape coefficients for: Bessel beams, general hollow waveguide modes and specific geometries such as cylindrical and rectangular. Our method uses the vector potential, which shows the interesting characteristic of being gauge invariant. These results are highly relevant for speeding up numerical calculation of light scattering applications such as the radiation forces acting on spherical particles placed in an arbitrary electromagnetic field, as in an optical tweezers system. (C) 2016 Optical Society of America

Twist-induced guidance in coreless photonic crystal fiber: A helical channel for light

Ramin Beravat, Gordon K. L. Wong, Michael H. Frosz, Xiao Ming Xi, Philip St. J. Russell

Fluorescence-based remote irradiation sensor in liquid-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fiber

R. Zeltner, D. S. Bykov, S. Xie, T. G. Euser, P. St. J. Russell

We report an irradiation sensor based on a fluorescent "flying particle" that is optically trapped and propelled inside the core of a water-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fiber. When the moving particle passes through an irradiated region, its emitted fluorescence is captured by guided modes of the fiber core and so can be monitored using a filtered photodiode placed at the fiber end. The particle speed and position can be precisely monitored using in-fiber Doppler velocimetry, allowing the irradiation profile to be measured to a spatial resolution of similar to 10 mu m. The spectral response can be readily adjusted by appropriate choice of particle material. Using dye-doped polystyrene particles, we demonstrate detection of green (532 nm) and ultraviolet (340 nm) light. Published by AIP Publishing.

Tapered Glass-Fiber Microspike: High-Q Flexural Wave Resonator and Optically Driven Knudsen Pump

Riccardo Pennetta, Shangran Xie, Philip St. J. Russell

Hybrid photonic-crystal fiber for single-mode phase matched generation of third harmonic and photon triplets

Andrea Cavanna, Felix Just, Xin Jiang, Gerd Leuchs, Maria V. Chekhova, Philip St. J. Russell, Nicolas Y. Joly

Resolving the mystery of milliwatt-threshold opto-mechanical self-oscillation in dual-nanoweb fiber

J. R. Koehler, R. E. Noskov, A. A. Sukhorukov, A. Butsch, D. Novoa, P. St. J. Russell

Coherent octave-spanning mid-infrared supercontinuum generated in As2S3-silica double-nanospike waveguide pumped by femtosecond Cr:ZnS laser

Shangran Xie, Nikolai Tolstik, John C. Travers, Evgeni Sorokin, Celine Caillaud, Johann Troles, Philip St J. Russell, Irina T. Sorokina

A more than 1.5 octave-spanning mid-infrared supercontinuum (1.2 to 3.6 mu m) is generated by pumping a As2S3-silica "double-nanospike" waveguide via a femtosecond Cr:ZnS laser at 2.35 mu m. The combination of the optimized group velocity dispersion and extremely high nonlinearity provided by the As2S3-silica hybrid waveguide enables a similar to 100 pJ level pump pulse energy threshold for octave-spanning spectral broadening at a repetition rate of 90 MHz. Numerical simulations show that the generated supercontinuum is highly coherent over the entire spanning wavelength range. The results are important for realization of a high repetition rate octave-spanning frequency comb in the mid-infrared spectral region. (C)2016 Optical Society of America

Broadband robustly single-mode hollow-core PCF by resonant filtering of higher-order modes

Patrick Uebel, Mehmet C. Guenendi, Michael H. Frosz, Goran Ahmed, Nitin N. Edavalath, Jean-Michel Menard, Philip St. J. Russell

We report a hollow-core photonic crystal fiber that is engineered so as to strongly suppress higher-order modes, i.e., to provide robust LP01 single-mode guidance in all the wavelength ranges where the fiber guides with low loss. Encircling the core is a single ring of nontouching glass elements whose modes are tailored to ensure resonant phase-matched coupling to higher-order core modes. We show that the resulting modal filtering effect depends on only one dimensionless shape parameter, akin to the well-known d/Lambda parameter for endlessly single-mode solid-core PCF. Fabricated fibers show higher-order mode losses some similar to 100 higher than for the LP01 mode, with LP01 losses <0.2 dB/m in the near-infrared and a spectral flatness similar to 1 dB over a >110 THz bandwidth. (C) 2016 Optical Society of America

High-resolution wavefront shaping with a photonic crystal fiber for multimode fiber imaging

Lyubov V. Amitonova, Adrien Descloux, Joerg Petschulat, Michael H. Frosz, Goran Ahmed, Fehim Babic, Xin Jiang, Allard P. Mosk, Philip St. J. Russell, et al.

We demonstrate that a high-numerical-aperture photonic crystal fiber allows lensless focusing at an unparalleled resolution by complex wavefront shaping. This paves the way toward high-resolution imaging exceeding the capabilities of imaging with multi-core single-mode optical fibers. We analyze the beam waist and power in the focal spot on the fiber output using different types of fibers and different wavefront shaping approaches. We show that the complex wavefront shaping technique, together with a properly designed multimode photonic crystal fiber, enables us to create a tightly focused spot on the desired position on the fiber output facet with a subwavelength beam waist. (C) 2016 Optical Society of America

Near-ionization-threshold emission in atomic gases driven by intense sub-cycle pulses

Wei-Chun Chu, John C. Travers, Philip St J. Russell

We study theoretically the dipole radiation of a hydrogen atom driven by an intense sub-cycle pulse. The time-dependent Schrodinger equation for the system is solved by ab initio calculation to obtain the dipole response. Remarkably, a narrowband emission lasting longer than the driving pulse appears at a frequency just above the ionization threshold. An additional calculation using the strong field approximation also recovers this emission, which suggests that it corresponds to the oscillation of nearly bound electrons that behave similarly to Rydberg electrons. The predicted phenomenon is unique to ultrashort driving pulses but not specific to any particular atomic structure.

All-optical bit storage in a fibre laser by optomechanically bound states of solitons

M. Pang, W. He, X. Jiang, P. St. J. Russell

Soliton fibre lasers mode-locked at a high harmonic of their round-trip frequency have many potential applications, from telecommunications to data storage(1). Control of multiple pulses in passively mode-locked fibre lasers has, however, proved very difficult to achieve. This has recently changed with the advent of fibre lasers mode-locked by intense optomechanical interactions in a short length of photonic crystal fibre(2,3). Optomechanical coupling between cavity modes gives rise to highly stable, optomechanically bound, laser soliton states. The repetition rate of these states corresponds to the mechanical resonant frequency in the photonic crystal fibre core(4), which can be a few gigahertz. Here we show that this system can be successfully used for programmable generation and storage of gigahertz-rate soliton sequences over many hours.

Solid-core and hollow-core photonic crystal fiber for generation of bright ultraviolet light (Conference Presentation)

Nicolas Y. Joly, Xin Jiang, John C. Travers, Alexey Ermolov, Philip St. J. Russell

Sub-100-fs 1.87 GHz mode-locked fiber laser using stretched-soliton effects

W. He, M. Pang, C. R. Menyuk, P. St J. Russell

Current sensing using circularly birefringent twisted solid-core photonic crystal fiber

R. Beravat, G. K. L. Wong, X. M. Xi, M. H. Frosz, P. St. J. Russell

Continuously twisted solid-core photonic crystal fiber (PCF) exhibits pure circular birefringence (optical activity), making it ideal for current sensors based on the Faraday effect. By numerical analysis, we identify the PCF geometry for which the circular birefringence (which scales linearly with twist rate) is a maximum. For silica-air PCF, this occurs at a shape parameter (diameter-to-spacing ratio of the hollow channels) of 0.37 and a scale parameter (spacing-to-wavelength) of 1.51. This result is confirmed experimentally by testing a range of different structures. To demonstrate the effectiveness of twisted PCF as a current sensor, a length of fiber is placed on the axis of a 7.6 cm long solenoid, and the Faraday rotation is measured at different values of dc current. The system is then used to chart the wavelength dependence of the Verdet constant. (C) 2016 Optical Society of America

Characterization of few-fs deep-UV dispersive waves by ultra-broadband transient-grating XFROG

Alexey Ermolov, Heli Valtna-Lukner, John Travers, Philip St J. Russell

Self-alignment of glass fiber nanospike by optomechanical back-action in hollow-core photonic crystal fiber

S. Xie, Riccardo Pennetta, P. St J. Russell

A topic of great current interest is the harnessing and enhancement of optical tweezer forces for trapping small objects of different sizes and shapes at relatively small powers. Here we demonstrate the stable trapping, inside the core of a hollow-core photonic crystal fiber (HC-PCF), of a mechanically compliant fused silica nanospike, formed by tapering a single-mode fiber (SMF). The nanospike is subwavelength in diameter over its similar to W50 mu m insertion length in the HC-PCF. Laser light, launched into the SMF core, adiabatically evolves into a mode that extends strongly into the space surrounding the nanospike. It then senses the presence of the hollow core, and the resulting optomechanical action and back-action results in a strong trapping force at the core center. The system permits lens-less, reflection-free, self-stabilized, and self-aligned coupling from SMF to HC-PCF with a demonstrated efficiency of 87.8%. The unique configuration also provides an elegant means of investigating optomechanical effects in optical tweezers, especially at very low pressures. (C) 2016 Optical Society of America

Supercontinuum generation in ZBLAN glass photonic crystal fiber with six nanobore cores

Xin Jiang, Nicolas Y. Joly, Martin A. Finger, Fehim Babic, Meng Pang, Rafal Sopalla, Michael H. Frosz, Samuel Poulain, Marcel Poulain, et al.

Broadband electric-field-induced LP01 and LP02 second harmonic generation in Xe-filled hollow-core PCF

Jean-Michel Menard, Felix Köttig, Philip St. J. Russell

Second harmonic (SH) generation with 300 fs pump pulses is reported in a xenon-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fiber (PCF) across which an external bias voltage is applied. Phase-matched intermodal conversion from a pump light in the LP01 mode to SH light in the LP02 mode is achieved at a particular gas pressure. Using periodic electrodes, quasi-phase-matched SH generation into the low-loss LP01 mode is achieved at a different pressure. The low linear dispersion of the gas enables phase-matching over a broad spectral window, resulting in a measured bandwidth of similar to 10 nm at high pump energies. A conversion efficiency of similar to 18%/ mJ is obtained. Gas-filled anti-resonant-reflecting hollow-core PCF uniquely offers pressure-tunable phase-matching, ultra-broadband guidance, and a very high optical damage threshold, which hold great promise for efficient three-wave mixing, especially in difficult-to-access regions of the electromagnetic spectrum. (C) 2016 Optical Society of America

Dramatic Raman Gain Suppression in the Vicinity of the Zero Dispersion Point in a Gas-Filled Hollow-Core Photonic Crystal Fiber

S. T. Bauerschmidt, D. Novoa, P. St J. Russell

In 1964 Bloembergen and Shen predicted that Raman gain could be suppressed if the rates of phonon creation and annihilation (by inelastic scattering) exactly balance. This is only possible if the momentum required for each process is identical, i.e., phonon coherence waves created by pump-to-Stokes scattering are identical to those annihilated in pump-to-anti-Stokes scattering. In bulk gas cells, this can only be achieved over limited interaction lengths at an oblique angle to the pump axis. Here we report a simple system that provides dramatic Raman gain suppression over long collinear path lengths in hydrogen. It consists of a gas-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fiber whose zero dispersion point is pressure adjusted to lie close to the pump laser wavelength. At a certain precise pressure, stimulated generation of Stokes light in the fundamental mode is completely suppressed, allowing other much weaker phenomena such as spontaneous Raman scattering to be explored at high pump powers.

Broadband-tunable LP01 mode frequency shifting by Raman coherence waves in a H-2-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fiber

S. T. Bauerschmidt, D. Novoa, A. Abdolvand, P. St. J. Russell

When a laser pump beam of sufficient intensity is incident on a Raman-active medium such as hydrogen gas, a strong Stokes signal, redshifted by the Raman transition frequency Omega(R), is generated. This is accompanied by the creation of a "coherence wave" of synchronized molecular oscillations with wave vector Delta beta determined by the optical dispersion. Within its lifetime, this coherence wave can be used to shift by Omega(R) the frequency of a third "mixing" signal, provided phase matching is satisfied, i.e., Delta beta is matched. Conventionally, this can be arranged using noncollinear beams or higher-order waveguide modes. Here we report the collinear phase-matched frequency shifting of an arbitrary mixing signal using only the fundamental LP01 modes of a hydrogen-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fiber. This is made possible by the S-shaped dispersion curve that occurs around the pressure-tunable zero dispersion point. Phase-matched frequency shifting by 125 THz is possible from the UV to the near IR. Long interaction lengths and tight modal confinement reduce the peak intensities required, allowing conversion efficiencies in excess of 70%. The system is of great interest in coherent anti-Stokes Raman spectroscopy and for wavelength conversion of broadband laser sources. (C) 2015 Optical Society of America

Position-Squared Coupling in a Tunable Photonic Crystal Optomechanical Cavity

Taofiq K. Paraiso, Mahmoud Kalaee, Leyun Zang, Hannes Pfeifer, Florian Marquardt, Oskar Painter

We present the design, fabrication, and characterization of a planar silicon photonic crystal cavity in which large position-squared optomechanical coupling is realized. The device consists of a double-slotted photonic crystal structure in which motion of a central beam mode couples to two high-Q optical modes localized around each slot. Electrostatic tuning of the structure is used to controllably hybridize the optical modes into supermodes that couple in a quadratic fashion to the motion of the beam. From independent measurements of the anticrossing of the optical modes and of the dynamic optical spring effect, a position-squared vacuum coupling rate as large as (g) over tilde'/2 pi = 245 Hz is inferred between the optical supermodes and the fundamental in-plane mechanical resonance of the structure at omega(m)/2 pi = 8.7 MHz, which in displacement units corresponds to a coupling coefficient of g'/2 pi = 1 THz/nm(2). For larger supermode splittings, selective excitation of the individual optical supermodes is used to demonstrate optical trapping of the mechanical resonator with measured (g) over tilde'/2 pi = 46 Hz.

Wideband-tunable soliton fiber laser mode-locked at 1.88 GHz by optoacoustic interactions in solid-core PCF

Wenbin He, Meng Pang, Philip St J. Russell

We report a wavelength-tunable soliton fiber laser stably mode-locked at 1.88 GHz (the 389th harmonic of the cavity round-trip frequency) by a light-driven acoustic resonance in the core of a photonic crystal fiber. Stable high-harmonic mode-locking could be maintained when the lasing wavelength was continuously tuned from 1532 to 1566 nm by means of an optical filter placed inside the laser cavity. We report on the experimental performance of the laser, including its power scalability, super-mode noise suppression ratio, long-term repetition rate stability, short-term pulse amplitude noise and timing jitter, optical comb structure and pulse-to-pulse phase fluctuations. (C) 2015 Optical Society of America

Phase-matched electric-field-induced second-harmonic generation in Xe-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fiber

Jean-Michel Menard, Philip St. J. Russell

Second-order nonlinearity is induced inside a Xe-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fiber (PCF) by applying an external dc field. The system uniquely allows the linear optical properties to be adjusted by changing the gas pressure, allowing for precise phase matching between the LP01 mode at 1064 nm and the LP02 mode at 532 nm. The dependence of the second-harmonic conversion efficiency on the gas pressure, launched pulse energy, and applied field agrees well with theory. The ultra-broadband guidance offered by anti-resonant reflecting hollow-core PCFs, for example, a kagome PCF, offers many possibilities for generating light in traditionally difficult-to-access regions of the electromagnetic spectrum, such as the ultraviolet or the terahertz windows. The system can also be used for non-invasive measurements of the transmission loss in a hollow-core PCF over a broad spectrum, including the deep and vacuum UV regions. (C) 2015 Optical Society of America

Raman-induced temporal condensed matter physics in gas-filled photonic crystal fibers

Mohammed F. Saleh, Andrea Armaroli, Truong X. Tran, Andrea Marini, Federico Belli, Amir Abdolvand, Fabio Biancalana

Raman effect in gases can generate an extremely long-living wave of coherence that can lead to the establishment of an almost perfect temporal periodic variation of the medium refractive index. We show theoretically and numerically that the equations, regulate the pulse propagation in hollow-core photonic crystal fibers filled by Raman-active gas, are exactly identical to a classical problem in quantum condensed matter physics - but with the role of space and time reversed - namely an electron in a periodic potential subject to a constant electric field. We are therefore able to infer the existence of Wannier-Stark ladders, Bloch oscillations, and Zener tunneling, phenomena that are normally associated with condensed matter physics, using purely optical means. (C) 2015 Optical Society of America

Giant Optical Activity of Quantum Dots, Rods, and Disks with Screw Dislocations

Anvar S. Baimuratov, Ivan D. Rukhlenko, Roman E. Noskov, Pavel Ginzburg, Yurii K. Gun'ko, Alexander V. Baranov, Anatoly V. Fedorov

For centuries mankind has been modifying the optical properties of materials: first, by elaborating the geometry and composition of structures made of materials found in nature, later by structuring the existing materials at a scale smaller than the operating wavelength. Here we suggest an original approach to introduce optical activity in nanostructured materials, by theoretically demonstrating that conventional achiral semiconducting nanocrystals become optically active in the presence of screw dislocations, which can naturally develop during the nanocrystal growth. We show the new properties to emerge due to the dislocation-induced distortion of the crystal lattice and the associated alteration of the nanocrystal's electronic subsystem, which essentially modifies its interaction with external optical fields. The g-factors of intraband transitions in our nanocrystals are found comparable with dissymmetry factors of chiral plasmonic complexes, and exceeding the typical g-factors of chiral molecules by a factor of 1000. Optically active semiconducting nanocrystals-with chiral properties controllable by the nanocrystal dimensions, morphology, composition and blending ratio-will greatly benefit chemistry, biology and medicine by advancing enantiomeric recognition, sensing and resolution of chiral molecules.

Compressing mu J-level pulses from 250 fs to sub-10 fs at 38-MHz repetition rate using two gas-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fiber stages

K. F. Mak, M. Seidel, O. Pronin, M. H. Frosz, A. Abdolvand, V. Pervak, A. Apolonski, F. Krausz, J. C. Travers, et al.

Compression of 250-fs, 1-mu J pulses from a KLM Yb:YAG thin-disk oscillator down to 9.1 fs is demonstrated. A kagome-PCF with a 36-mu m core-diameter is used with a pressure gradient from 0 to 40 bar of krypton. Compression to 22 fs is achieved by 1200 fs(2) group-delay-dispersion provided by chirped mirrors. By coupling the output into a second kagome-PCF with a pressure gradient from 0 to 25 bar of argon, octave spanning spectral broadening via the soliton-effect is observed at 18-W average output power. Self-compression to 9.1 fs is measured, with compressibility to 5 fs predicted. Also observed is strong emission in the visible via dispersive wave generation, amounting to 4% of the total output power. (C) 2015 Optical Society of America

Generation of three-octave-spanning transient Raman comb in hydrogen-filled hollow-core PCF

F. Tani, F. Belli, A. Abdolvand, J. C. Travers, P. St. J. Russell

A noise-seeded transient comb of Raman sidebands spanning three octaves from 180 to 2400 nm, is generated by pumping a hydrogen-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fiber with 26-mu J, 300-fs pulses at 800 nm. The pump pulses are spectrally broadened by both Kerr and Raman-related self-phase modulation (SPM), and the broadening is then transferred to the Raman lines. In spite of the high intensity, and in contrast to bulk gas-cell based experiments, neither SPM broadening nor ionization are detrimental to comb formation. (C) 2015 Optical Society of America

Raman amplification of pure side-seeded higherorder modes in hydrogen-filled hollow-core PCF

Jean-Michel Menard, Barbara M. Trabold, Amir Abdolvand, Philip St J. Russell

We use Raman amplification in hydrogen-filled hollow-core kagome photonic crystal fiber to generate high energy pulses in pure single higher-order modes. The desired higher-order mode at the Stokes frequency is precisely seeded by injecting a pulse of light from the side, using a prism to select the required modal propagation constant. An intense pump pulse in the fundamental mode transfers its energy to the Stokes seed pulse with measured gains exceeding 60 dB and output pulse energies as high as 8 mu J. A pressure gradient is used to suppress stimulated Raman scattering into the fundamental mode at the Stokes frequency. The growth of the Stokes pulse energy is experimentally and theoretically investigated for six different higher-order modes. The technique has significant advantages over the use of spatial light modulators to synthesize higher-order mode patterns, since it is very difficult to perfectly match the actual eigenmode of the fiber core, especially for higher-order modes with complex multi-lobed transverse field profiles. (C) 2015 Optical Society of America

Probing and Controlling Autoionization Dynamics with Attosecond Light Pulses in a Strong Dressing Laser Field

Wei-Chun Chu, Toru Morishita, C. D. Lin

We review the theoretical investigations of the autoionzing wave packet excited by an isolated attosecond pulse and dressed by a time-delayed intense laser pulse. The few-level model is described and the applications in photoemission and photoabsorption are given. For the three-level, resonantly coupled system, the main features are explained by the Rabi oscillation modulated in the dressing field. For such a system, by precisely controlling the intensity and the time delay of the dressing pulse, we show the shaping of the attosecond pulse when propagating in a gas medium. A more sophisticated multi-level system with coupling terms involving continuum states is also developed, in which the importance of the continuum-continuum coupling is evaluated with the help of an ab initio calculation.

Atomic mercury vapor inside a hollow-core photonic crystal fiber

Ulrich Vogl, Christian Peuntinger, Nicolas Y. Joly, Philip St. J. Russell, Christoph Marquardt, Gerd Leuchs

We demonstrate high atomic mercury vapor pressure in a kagome-style hollow-core photonic crystal fiber at room temperature. After a few days of exposure to mercury vapor the fiber is homogeneously filled and the optical depth achieved remains constant. With incoherent optical pumping from the ground state we achieve an optical depth of 114 at the 6(3)P(2) - 6(3)D(3) transition, corresponding to an atomic mercury number density of 6 x 10(10) cm(-3). The use of mercury vapor in quasi one-dimensional confinement may be advantageous compared to chemically more active alkali vapor, while offering strong optical nonlinearities in the ultraviolet region of the optical spectrum. (C) 2014 Optical Society of America

Multistability and spontaneous breaking in pulse-shape symmetry in fiber ring cavities

M. J. Schmidberger, D. Novoa, F. Biancalana, P. St J. Russell, N. Y. Joly

We describe the spatio-temporal evolution of ultrashort pulses propagating in a fiber ring cavity using an extension of the Lugiato-Lefever model. The model predicts the appearance of multistability and spontaneous symmetry breaking in temporal pulse shape. We also use a hydrodynamical approach to explain the stability of the observed regimes of asymmetry. (C) 2014 Optical Society of America

Self-induced mode mixing of ultraintense lasers in vacuum

Angel Paredes, David Novoa, Daniele Tommasini

We study the effects of the quantum vacuum on the propagation of a Gaussian laser beam in vacuum. By means of a double perturbative expansion in paraxiality and quantum vacuum terms, we provide analytical expressions for the self-induced transverse mode mixing, rotation of polarization, and third harmonic generarion. We discuss the possibility of searching for the self-induced, spatially dependent phase shift of a multipetawatt laser pulse, which may allow the testing of quantum electrodynamics and new physics models, such as Born-Infeld theory and models involving new minicharged or axion-like particles, in parametric regions that have not yet been explored in laboratory experiments.

The key role of off-axis singularities in free-space vortex transmutation

David Novoa, Inigo J. Sola, Miguel Angel Garcia-March, Albert Ferrando

We experimentally demonstrate the generation of off-axis phase singularities in a vortex transmutation process induced by the breaking of rotational symmetry. The process takes place in free space by launching a highly charged vortex, owning full rotational symmetry, into a linear thin diffractive element presenting discrete rotational symmetry. It is shown that off-axis phase singularities follow straight dark rays bifurcating from the symmetry axis. This phenomenon may provide new routes toward the spatial control of multiple phase singularities for applications in atom trapping and particle manipulation.

As2S3-silica double-nanospike waveguide for mid-infrared supercontinuum generation

Shangran Xie, Francesco Tani, John C. Travers, Patrick Uebel, Celine Caillaud, Johann Troles, Markus A. Schmidt, Philip St J. Russell

A double-nanospike As2S3-silica hybrid waveguide structure is reported. The structure comprises nanotapers at input and output ends of a step-index waveguide with a subwavelength core (1 mu m in diameter), with the aim of increasing the in-coupling and out-coupling efficiency. The design of the input nanospike is numerically optimized to match both the diameter and divergence of the input beam, resulting in efficient excitation of the fundamental mode of the waveguide. The output nanospike is introduced to reduce the output beam divergence and the strong endface Fresnel reflection. The insertion loss of the waveguide is measured to be similar to 2 dB at 1550 nm in the case of free-space in-coupling, which is similar to 7 dB lower than the previously reported single-nanospike waveguide. By pumping a 3-mm-long waveguide at 1550 nm using a 60-fs fiber laser, an octave-spanning supercontinuum (from 0.8 to beyond 2.5 mu m) is generated at 38 pJ input energy. (C) 2014 Optical Society of America

Broadband single-photon-level memory in a hollow-core photonic crystal fibre

M. R. Sprague, P. S. Michelberger, T. F. M. Champion, D. G. England, J. Nunn, X. -M. Jin, W. S. Kolthammer, A. Abdolvand, P. St J. Russell, et al.

Storing information encoded in light is critical for realizing optical buffers for all-optical signal processing(1,2) and quantum memories for quantum information processing(3,4). These proposals require efficient interaction between atoms and a well-defined optical mode. Photonic crystal fibres can enhance light-matter interactions and have engendered a broad range of nonlinear effects(5); however, the storage of light has proven elusive. Here, we report the first demonstration of an optical memory in a hollow-core photonic crystal fibre. We store gigahertz-bandwidth light in the hyperfine coherence of caesium atoms at room temperature using a far-detuned Raman interaction. We demonstrate a signal-to-noise ratio of 2.6:1 at the single-photon level and a memory efficiency of 27 +/- 1%. Our results demonstrate the potential of a room-temperature fibre-integrated optical memory for implementing local nodes of quantum information networks.

Taking Two-Photon Excitation to Exceptional Path-Lengths in Photonic Crystal Fiber

Gareth O. S. Williams, Tijmen G. Euser, Jochen Arlt, Philip St. J. Russell, Anita C. Jones

The well-known, defining feature of two-photon excitation (TPE) is the tight, three-dimensional confinement of excitation at the intense focus of a laser beam. The extremely small excitation volume, on the order of 1 mu m(3) (1 femtoliter), is the basis of far-reaching applications of TPE in fluorescence imaging, photodynamic therapy, nanofabrication, and three-dimensional optical memory. Paradoxically, the difficulty of detecting photochemical events in such a small volume is a barrier to the development of the two-photon-activated molecular systems that are essential to the realization of such applications. We show, using two-photon-excited fluorescence to directly visualize the excitation path, that confinement of both laser beam and sample solution within the 20 mu m hollow core of a photonic crystal fiber permits TPE to be sustained over an extraordinary path-length of more than 10 cm, presenting a new experimental paradigm for ultrasensitive studies of two-photon-induced processes in solution.

Rydberg atoms in hollow-core photonic crystal fibres

G. Epple, K. S. Kleinbach, T. G. Euser, N. Y. Joly, T. Pfau, P. St J. Russell, R. Loew

The exceptionally large polarizability of highly excited Rydberg atoms-six orders of magnitude higher than ground-state atoms-makes them of great interest in fields such as quantum optics, quantum computing, quantum simulation and metrology. However, if they are to be used routinely in applications, a major requirement is their integration into technically feasible, miniaturized devices. Here we show that a Rydberg medium based on room temperature caesium vapour can be confined in broadband-guiding kagome-style hollow-core photonic crystal fibres. Three-photon spectroscopy performed on a caesium-filled fibre detects Rydberg states up to a principal quantum number of n = 40. Besides small energy-level shifts we observe narrow lines confirming the coherence of the Rydberg excitation. Using different Rydberg states and core diameters we study the influence of confinement within the fibre core after different exposure times. Understanding these effects is essential for the successful future development of novel applications based on integrated room temperature Rydberg systems.

Plasmonic kinks and walking solitons in nonlinear lattices of metal nanoparticles

Roman E. Noskov, Daria A. Smirnova, Yuri S. Kivshar

We study nonlinear effects in one-dimensional (1D) arrays and two-dimensional (2D) lattices composed of metallic nanoparticles with the nonlinear Kerr-like response and an external driving field. We demonstrate the existence of families of moving solitons in 1D arrays and characterize their properties such as an average drifting velocity. We also analyse the impact of varying external field intensity and frequency on the structure and dynamics of kinks in 2D lattices. In particular, we identify the kinks with positive, negative and zero velocity as well as breathing kinks with a self-oscillating profile.

Raman-free nonlinear optical effects in high pressure gas-filled hollow core PCF

M. Azhar, G. K. L. Wong, W. Chang, N. Y. Joly, P. St J. Russell

The effective Kerr nonlinearity of hollow-core kagome-style photonic crystal fiber (PCF) filled with argon gas increases to similar to 15% of that of bulk silica glass when the pressure is increased from 1 to 150 bar, while the zero dispersion wavelength shifts from 300 to 900 nm. The group velocity dispersion of the system is uniquely pressure-tunable over a wide range while avoiding Raman scattering-absent in noble gases-and having an extremely high optical damage threshold. As a result, detailed and well-controlled studies of nonlinear effects can be performed, in both normal and anomalous dispersion regimes, using only a fixed-frequency pump laser. For example, the absence of Raman scattering permits clean observation, at high powers, of the interaction between a modulational instability side-band and a soliton-created dispersive wave. Excellent agreement is obtained between numerical simulations and experimental results. The system has great potential for the realization of reconfigurable supercontinuum sources, wavelength convertors and short-pulse laser systems. (C)2013 Optical Society of America

Tunable vacuum-UV to visible ultrafast pulse source based on gas-filled Kagome-PCF

Ka Fai Mak, John C. Travers, Philipp Hoelzer, Nicolas Y. Joly, Philip St. J. Russell

An efficient and tunable 176-550 nm source based on the emission of resonant dispersive radiation from ultrafast solitons at 800 nm is demonstrated in a gas-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fiber (PCF). By careful optimization and appropriate choice of gas, informed by detailed numerical simulations, we show that bright, high quality, localized bands of UV light (relative widths of a few percent) can be generated at all wavelengths across this range. Pulse energies of more than 75 nJ in the deep-UV, with relative bandwidths of similar to 3%, are generated from pump pulses of a few mu J. Excellent agreement is obtained between numerical and experimental results. The effects of positive and negative axial pressure gradients are also experimentally studied, and the coherence of the deep-UV dispersive wave radiation numerically investigated. (C) 2013 Optical Society of America

Combined soliton pulse compression and plasma-related frequency upconversion in gas-filled photonic crystal fiber

W. Chang, P. Hoelzer, J. C. Travers, P. St. J. Russell

We numerically investigate self-frequency blueshifting of a fundamental soliton in a gas-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fiber. Because of the changing underlying soliton parameters, the blueshift gives rise to adiabatic soliton compression. Based on these features, we propose a device that enables frequency shifting over an octave and pulse compression from 30 fs down to 2.3 fs. (C) 2013 Optical Society of America

PHz-wide Supercontinua of Nondispersing Subcycle Pulses Generated by Extreme Modulational Instability

F. Tani, J. C. Travers, P. St. J. Russell

Modulational instability (MI) of 500 fs, 5 mu J pulses, propagating in gas-filled hollow-core kagome photonic crystal fiber, is studied numerically and experimentally. By tuning the pressure and launched energy, we control the duration of the pulses emerging as a consequence of MI and hence are able to study two regimes: the classical MI case leading to few-cycle solitons of the nonlinear Schrodinger equation; and an extreme case leading to the formation of nondispersing subcycle pulses (0.5 to 2 fs) with peak intensities of order 10(14) Wcm(-2). Insight into the two regimes is obtained using a novel statistical analysis of the soliton parameters. Numerical simulations and experimental measurements show that, when a train of these pulses is generated, strong ionization of the gas occurs. This extreme MI is used to experimentally generate a high energy (> 1 mu J) and spectrally broad supercontinuum extending from the deep ultraviolet (320 nm) to the infrared (1300 nm).

Two techniques for temporal pulse compression in gas-filled hollow-core kagome photonic crystal fiber

K. F. Mak, J. C. Travers, N. Y. Joly, A. Abdolvand, P. St. J. Russell

We demonstrate temporal pulse compression in gas-filled kagome hollow-core photonic crystal fiber (PCF) using two different approaches: fiber-mirror compression based on self-phase modulation under normal dispersion, and soliton effect self-compression under anomalous dispersion with a decreasing pressure gradient. In the first, efficient compression to near-transform-limited pulses from 103 to 10.6 fs was achieved at output energies of 10.3 mu J. In the second, compression from 24 to 6.8 fs was achieved at output energies of 6.6 mu J, also with near-transform-limited pulse shapes. The results illustrate the potential of kagome-PCF for postprocessing the output of fiber lasers. We also show that, using a negative pressure gradient, ultrashort pulses can be delivered directly into vacuum. (C) 2013 Optical Society of America

Ultrafast nonlinear dynamics of surface plasmon polaritons in gold nanowires due to the intrinsic nonlinearity of metals

A. Marini, M. Conforti, G. Della Valle, H. W. Lee, Tr X. Tran, W. Chang, M. A. Schmidt, S. Longhi, P. St J. Russell, et al.

Starting from first principles, we theoretically model the nonlinear temporal dynamics of gold-based plasmonic devices resulting from the heating of their metallic components. At optical frequencies, the gold susceptibility is determined by the interband transitions around the X, L points in the first Brillouin zone, and thermo-modulational effects ensue from Fermi smearing of the electronic energy distribution in the conduction band. As a consequence of light-induced heating of the conduction electrons, the optical susceptibility becomes nonlinear. In this paper we describe, for the first time to our knowledge, the effects of the thermo-modulational nonlinearity of gold on the propagation of surface plasmon polaritons guided on gold nanowires. We introduce a novel nonlinear Schrodinger-like equation to describe pulse propagation in such nanowires, and we predict the appearance of an intense spectral red-shift caused by the delayed thermal response.

Optical Activity in Twisted Solid-Core Photonic Crystal Fibers

X. M. Xi, T. Weiss, G. K. L. Wong, F. Biancalana, S. M. Barnett, M. J. Padgett, P. St. J. Russell

In this Letter we show that, in spectral regions where there are no orbital cladding resonances to cause transmission loss, the core mode of a continuously twisted photonic crystal fiber (PCF) exhibits optical activity, and that the magnitude of the associated circular birefringence increases linearly with twist rate and is highly reproducible. In contrast to previous work on twist-induced circular birefringence, PCF has zero linear birefringence and an on-axis core, making the appearance of circular birefringence rather unexpected. A theoretical model based on symmetry properties and perturbation theory is developed and used to show that both spin and orbital angular momentum play a role in this effect. It turns out that the degenerate left-and right-circularly polarized modes of the untwisted PCF are not 100% circularly polarized but carry a small amount of orbital angular momentum caused by the interaction between the core mode and the hollow channels. DOI:10.1103/PhysRevLett.110.143903

Measuring mechanical strain and twist using helical photonic crystal fiber

Xiaoming Xi, Gordon K. L. Wong, Thomas Weiss, Philip St J. Russell

Solid-core photonic crystal fiber (PCF) with a permanent helical twist exhibits dips in its transmission spectrum at certain wavelengths. These are associated with the formation of orbital angular momentum states in the cladding. Here we investigate the tuning of these states with mechanical torque and axial tension. The dip wavelengths are found to scale linearly with both axial strain and mechanical twist rate. Analysis shows that the tension-induced shift in resonance wavelength is determined both by the photoelastic effect and by the change in twist rate, while the torsion-induced wavelength shift depends only on the change in twist rate. Twisted PCF can act as an effective optically monitored torque-tension transducer, twist sensor, or strain gauge. (C) 2013 Optical Society of America

Subwavelength solitons and Faraday waves in two-dimensional lattices of metal nanoparticles

Roman E. Noskov, Daria A. Smirnova, Yuri S. Kivshar

We demonstrate that optically driven two-dimensional lattices of nonlinear metal nanoparticles can support a variety of dissipative localized modes including Faraday ripples, trapped and walking solitons, oscillons, and switching waves connecting different polarization states. (C) 2013 Optical Society of America

Dynamical generation of interwoven soliton trains by nonlinear emission in binary Bose-Einstein condensates

V. A. Brazhnyi, David Novoa, Chandroth P. Jisha

We propose a method for the generation of trains of alternating bright solitons in two-component Bose-Einstein condensates, using controlled emission of nonlinear matter waves in the uncoupled regime with spatially varying intraspecies interaction and out-of-phase oscillations of the ground states in the trap. Under this scheme, solitons are sequentially launched from the different components and interact with each other through phase-independent cross coupling. We obtain an analytical estimation of the critical condition for soliton emission using a geometric guiding model, in analogy with integrated optical systems. In addition, we show how strong initial perturbations in the system can trigger the spontaneous generation of supersolitons, i.e., localized phononlike excitations of the soliton trains. Finally, we demonstrate the controllable generation of slow and fast supersolitons by adding external localized potentials in the nonlinear region.

Generation of a phase-locked Raman frequency comb in gas-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fiber

A. Abdolvand, A. M. Walser, M. Ziemienczuk, T. Nguyen, P. St J. Russell

In a relatively simple setup consisting of a microchip laser as pump source and two hydrogen-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fibers, a broad, phase-locked, purely rotational frequency comb is generated. This is achieved by producing a clean first Stokes seed pulse in a narrowband guiding photonic bandgap fiber via stimulated Raman scattering and then driving the same Raman transition resonantly with a pump and Stokes fields in a second broad-band guiding kagome-style fiber. Using a spectral interferometric technique based on sum frequency generation, we show that the comb components are phase locked. (C) 2012 Optical Society of America

Polarisation-resolved near-field mapping of a coupled gold nanowire array

Patrick Uebel, Markus A. Schmidt, Howard W. Lee, Philip St. J. Russell

We report direct observation of the 2D transverse near-field intensity and polarisation distribution of surface plasmon polaritons guided on metal nanowires. Quadrupolar modes are excited on an array of coupled nanowires arranged around the central glass core in a photonic crystal fibre, with lobes whose orientation depends on the polarisation state of the launched core light. The radial electric field is resolved using a polarization sensitive near-field probe in light-collection mode. (C) 2012 Optical Society of America

Photonic crystal fibre as an optofluidic reactor for the measurement of photochemical kinetics with sub-picomole sensitivity

Gareth O. S. Williams, Jocelyn S. Y. Chen, Tijmen G. Euser, Philip St J. Russell, Anita C. Jones

Photonic crystal fibre constitutes an optofluidic system in which light can be efficiently coupled into a solution-phase sample, contained within the hollow core of the fibre, over long path-lengths. This provides an ideal arrangement for the highly sensitive monitoring of photochemical reactions by absorption spectroscopy. We report here the use of UV/vis spectroscopy to measure the kinetics of the photochemical and thermal cis-trans isomerisation of sub-picomole samples of two azo dyes within the 19-mu m diameter core of a photonic crystal fibre, over a path length of 30 cm. Photoisomerisation quantum yields are the first reported for "push-pull'' azobenzenes in solution at room temperature; such measurements are challenging because of the fast thermal isomerisation process. Rate constants obtained for thermal isomerisation are in excellent agreement with those established previously in conventional cuvette-based measurements. The high sensitivity afforded by this intra-fibre method enables measurements in solvents in which the dyes are too insoluble to permit conventional cuvette-based measurements. The results presented demonstrate the potential of photonic crystal fibres as optofluidic elements in lab-on-a-chip devices for photochemical applications.

Influence of timing jitter on nonlinear dynamics of a photonic crystal fiber ring cavity

M. Schmidberger, W. Chang, P. St. J. Russell, N. Y. Joly

We demonstrate that timing jitter has a strong influence on supercontinua generated in a photonic crystal fiber ring cavity synchronously pumped by 140 fs pulses. The global dynamics with respect to cavity detuning is analyzed both numerically and experimentally by tracking the cavity pulse energy. The results show that low-frequency timing jitter, induced by both the pump oscillator and the external cavity, masks the fine underlying bifurcation structure of the system. Numerical simulations in the absence of timing jitter reveal that the system dynamics fall into four qualitatively different regimes. The existence of these regimes is experimentally observed in first-return diagrams. (c) 2012 Optical Society of America

Dynamics of optomechanical spatial solitons in dual-nanoweb structures

C. Conti, A. Butsch, F. Biancalana, P. St J. Russell

We theoretically investigate the stability and dynamics of self-channeled beams that form via nonlocal optomechanical interactions in dual-nanoweb microstructured fibers. These beams represent a class of spatial soliton.

Ultra-Low Concentration Monitoring of Catalytic Reactions in Photonic Crystal Fiber

Ana M. Cubillas, Matthias Schmidt, Michael Scharrer, Tijmen G. Euser, Bastian J. M. Etzold, Nicola Taccardi, Peter Wasserscheid, Philip St. J. Russell

Excitation of a nanowire "molecule" in gold-filled photonic crystal fiber

H. W. Lee, M. A. Schmidt, P. St. J. Russell

A pair of gold nanowires, incorporated into a photonic crystal fiber, acts as a plasmonic "molecule." Hybridized modes are excited at specific wavelengths by launching light into the glass core. The formation of bonding and antibonding solutions results in a modal splitting of more than 100 nm, even though the spatial separation between the wires is larger than 3 mu m. The study provides insight into multiwire plasmonic devices with applications as polarizers or filters in near-field optics, nonlinear plasmonics, optical sensing, and telecommunications. (C) 2012 Optical Society of America

Intermodal stimulated Raman scattering in hydrogen-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fiber

M. Ziemienczuk, A. M. Walser, A. Abdolvand, P. St. J. Russell

Stimulated Raman scattering is investigated in a slightly multimode gas-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fiber. Although, second-order Stokes light appears in the fundamental mode below a certain threshold energy, it is observed to switch to a two-lobed higher order mode above this threshold. Conversion to the higher order mode is made possible by the creation of a two-lobed moving coherence wave in the gas that provides both phase-matching and a strong intermodal pump-Stokes overlap. A theoretical model is developed, based on this physical interpretation that agrees quantitatively with the experimental results. The results suggest new opportunities for all-fiber gas-based nonlinear processes requiring phase-matching, such as coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering, as well as providing a means (for example) of efficiently converting light from a higher order pump mode to a fundamental Stokes mode. (C) 2012 Optical Society of America

Ultra-narrow linewidth CW sub-THz generation using GS based OFCG and n-i-pn-i-p superlattice photomixers

A. R. Criado, C. de Dios, G. H. Doehler, S. Preu, S. Malzer, S. Bauerschmidt, H. Lu, A. C. Gossard, P. Acedo

A report is presented on the photonic synthesis of ultra-narrow line-width continuous-wave (CW) sub-THz signals using a gain-switching (GS) based optical frequency comb generator (OFCG), selective optical filtering and a n-i-pn-i-p superlattice photomixer. This setup provides continuous tunability with a tuning resolution in the range of 0.1 Hz at 120 GHz and full width at half maximum of the generated signals below the limits of the measurement setup (< 10 Hz). The advantages of this system make it a very good candidate for applications requiring extremely low phase noise and continuous tunability, such as high resolution spectroscopy in the sub-THz and THz range.

Rare-earth ion doped TeO2 and GeO2 glasses as laser materials

Animesh Jha, Billy Richards, Gin Jose, Toney Teddy-Fernandez, Purushottam Joshi, Xin Jiang, Joris Lousteau

Germanium oxide (GeO2) and tellurium oxide (TeO2) based glasses are classed as the heavy metal oxide glasses, with phonon energies ranging between 740 cm(-1) and 880 cm(-1). These two types of glasses exhibit unique combinations of optical and spectroscopic properties, together with their attractive environmental resistance and mechanical properties. Engineering such a combination of structural, optical and spectroscopic properties is only feasible as a result of structural variability in these two types of glasses, since more than one structural units (TeO4 bi-pyramid, TeO3 trigonal pyramid, and TeO3+delta polyhedra) in tellurite and (GeO4 tetrahedron, GeO3 octahedron) in GeO2 based glasses may exist, depending on composition. The presence of multiple structural moities creates a range of dipole environments which is ideal for engineering broad spectral bandwidth rare-earth ion doped photonic device materials, suitable for laser and amplifier devices. Tellurite glasses were discovered in 1952, but remained virtually unknown to materials and device engineers until 1994 when unusual spectroscopic, nonlinear and dispersion properties of alkali and alkaline earth modified tellurite glasses and fibres were reported. Detailed spectroscopic analysis of Pr3+, Nd3+, Er3+ and Tm3+ doped tellurite glasses revealed its potential for laser and amplifier devices for optical communication wavelengths. This review summarises the thermal and viscosity properties of tellurite and germanate glasses for fibre fabrication and compares the linear loss for near and mid-IR device engineering. The aspects of glass preform fabrication for fibre engineering is discussed by emphasising the raw materials processing with casting of preforms and fibre fabrication. The spectroscopic properties of tellurite and germanate glasses have been analysed with special emphasis on oscillator strength and radiative rate characteristics for visible, near IR and mid-IR emission. The review also compares the latest results in the engineering of lasers and amplifiers, based on fibres for optical communication and mid-IR. The achievements in the areas of near-IR waveguide and mid-IR bulk glass, fibre, and waveguide lasers are discussed. The latest landmark results in mode-locked 2 mu m bulk glass lasers sets the precedence for engineering nonlinear and other laser devices for accessing the inaccessible parts of the mid-IR spectrum and discovering new applications for the future. (c) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Bright Spatially Coherent Wavelength-Tunable Deep-UV Laser Source Using an Ar-Filled Photonic Crystal Fiber

N.Y. Joly, J. Nold, W. Chang, P. Hoelzer, A. Nazarkin, G. K. L. Wong, F. Biancalana, P. St. J. Russell

We report on the spectral broadening of similar to 1 mu J 30 fs pulses propagating in an Ar-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fiber. In contrast with supercontinuum generation in a solid-core photonic crystal fiber, the absence of Raman and unique pressure-controlled dispersion results in efficient emission of dispersive waves in the deep-UV region. The UV light emerges in the single-lobed fundamental mode and is tunable from 200 to 320 nm by varying the pulse energy and gas pressure. The setup is extremely simple, involving <1 m of a gas-filled photonic crystal fiber, and the UV signal is stable and bright, with experimental IR to deep-UV conversion efficiencies as high as 8 %. The source is of immediate interest in applications demanding high spatial coherence, such as laser lithography or confocal microscopy.

Structural analysis of photonic crystal fibers by side scattering of laser light

L. Y. Zang, T. G. Euser, M. S. Kang, M. Scharrer, P. St. J. Russell

A side-scattering technique for investigating the inner microstructure of photonic crystal fibers (PCFs) is reported. Multiple scattering is reduced by filling the hollow PCF channels with index-matching fluid. The scattered signal is measured for fixed angles of incidence and detection while the fiber is rotated. A pattern of peaks, unique to each PCF, whether solid or hollow core, correlates closely with the symmetry planes of the PCF structure. As an example of the technique, the twist profile of a structural rocking filter is directly measured. (C) 2011 Optical Society of America

Optofluidic immobility of particles trapped in liquid-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fiber

M. K. Garbos, T. G. Euser, P. St. J. Russell

We study the conditions under which a particle, laser-guided in a vertically-oriented hollow-core photonic crystal fiber filled with liquid, can be kept stationary against a microfluidic counter-flow. An immobility parameter-the fluid flow rate required to immobilize a particle against the radiation force produced by unit guided optical power-is introduced to quantify the conditions under which this occurs, including radiation, viscous and gravity forces. Measurements show that this parameter depends strongly on the ratio of particle radius a to core radius R, peaking at an intermediate value of a/R. The results follow fairly well the theoretical estimates of the optical (calculated approximately using a ray optics approach) and numerically simulated drag forces. We suggest that the system has potential applications in, e.g., measurement of the diameter, refractive index and density of particles, synthesis and biomedical research. (C) 2011 Optical Society of America

Soliton Blueshift in Tapered Photonic Crystal Fibers

S. P. Stark, A. Podlipensky, P. St. J. Russell

We show that solitons undergo a strong blueshift in fibers with a dispersion landscape that varies along the direction of propagation. The experiments are based on a small-core photonic crystal fiber, tapered to have a core diameter that varies continuously along its length, resulting in a zero-dispersion wavelength that moves from 731 nm to 640 nm over the transition. The central wavelength of a soliton translates over 400 nm towards a shorter wavelength. This is accompanied by strong emission of radiation into the UV and IR spectral regions. The experimental results are confirmed by numerical simulation.

Ultrafast nonlinear optics in gas-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fibers [Invited]

John C. Travers, Wonkeun Chang, Johannes Nold, Nicolas Y. Joly, Philip St. J. Russell

We review the use of hollow-core photonic crystal fibers (PCFs) in the field of ultrafast gas-based nonlinear optics, including recent experiments, numerical modeling, and a discussion of future prospects. Concentrating on broadband guiding kagome-style hollow-core PCF, we describe its potential for moving conventional nonlinear fiber optics both into extreme regimes-such as few-cycle pulse compression and efficient deep ultraviolet wavelength generation-and into regimes hitherto inaccessible, such as single-mode guidance in a photoionized plasma and high-harmonic generation in fiber. (C) 2011 Optical Society of America

Pressure-assisted melt-filling and optical characterization of Au nano-wires in microstructured fibers

H. W. Lee, M. A. Schmidt, R. F. Russell, N. Y. Joly, H. K. Tyagi, P. Uebel, P. St. J. Russell

We report a novel splicing-based pressure-assisted melt-filling technique for creating metallic nanowires in hollow channels in microstructured silica fibers. Wires with diameters as small as 120 nm (typical aspect ration 50:1) could be realized at a filling pressure of 300 bar. As an example we investigate a conventional single-mode step-index fiber with a parallel gold nanowire (wire diameter 510 nm) running next to the core. Optical transmission spectra show dips at wavelengths where guided surface plasmon modes on the nanowire phase match to the glass core mode. By monitoring the side-scattered light at narrow breaks in the nanowire, the loss could be estimated. Values as low as 0.7 dB/mm were measured at resonance, corresponding to those of an ultra-long-range eigenmode of the glass-core/nanowire system. By thermal treatment the hollow channel could be collapsed controllably, permitting creation of a conical gold nanowire, the optical properties of which could be monitored by side-scattering. The reproducibility of the technique and the high optical quality of the wires suggest applications in fields such as nonlinear plasmonics, near-field scanning optical microscope tips, cylindrical polarizers, optical sensing and telecommunications. (C) 2011 Optical Society of America

Birefringence and dispersion of cylindrically polarized modes in nanobore photonic crystal fiber

T. G. Euser, M. A. Schmidt, N. Y. Joly, C. Gabriel, C. Marquardt, L. Y. Zang, M. Foertsch, P. Banzer, A. Brenn, et al.

We demonstrate experimentally and theoretically that a nanoscale hollow channel placed centrally in the solid-glass core of a photonic crystal fiber strongly enhances the cylindrical birefringence (the modal index difference between radially and azimuthally polarized modes). Furthermore, it causes a large split in group velocity and group velocity dispersion. We show analytically that all three parameters can be varied over a wide range by tuning the diameters of the nanobore and the core. (C) 2010 Optical Society of America

Gain Enhancement by Dielectric Horns in the Terahertz Band

Belen Andres-Garcia, Enrique Garcia-Munoz, Sebastian Bauerschmidt, Sascha Preu, Stefan Malzer, Gottfried H. Doehler, Lijun Wang, Daniel Segovia-Vargas

A new geometry for the design of antennas in the Terahertz band is presented. The structure is based on a horn antenna etched in the substrate and fed with a planar printed antenna used for generation of terahertz radiation, designed for the 200 GHz to 3 THz range. For the proposed antenna, the energy distribution through the substrate is reduced towards an increase in the gain of the system, at least, 8 dB in a 1: 10 bandwidth. The structure has been measured showing the expected behavior in the low band.

Bubble formation in basalt-like melts

Martin Jensen, Yuanzheng Yue, Ralf Keding

The effect of the melting temperature on bubble size and bubble formation in an iron bearing calcium aluminosilicate melt is studied by means of in-depth images acquired by optical microscopy. The bubble size distribution and the total bubble volume are determined by counting the number of bubbles and their diameter. The variation in melting temperature has little influence on the overall bubble volume. However, the size distribution of the bubbles varies with the melting temperature. When the melt is slowly cooled, the bubble volume increases, implying decreased solubility of the gaseous species. Mass spectroscopy analysis of gases liberated during heating of the glass reveals that small bubbles contain predominantly CH4, CO and CO2, whereas large bubbles contain N-2, SO2 and H2S. The methodology utilised in this work can, besides mapping the bubbles in a glass, be applied to shed light on the sources of bubble formation.

Doppler velocimetry on microparticles trapped and propelled by laser light in liquid-filled photonic crystal fiber

M. K. Garbos, T. G. Euser, O. A. Schmidt, S. Unterkofler, P. St. J. Russell

Laser Doppler velocimetry is used to measure very accurately the velocity and position of a microparticle propelled and guided by laser light in liquid-filled photonic crystal fiber. Periodic variations in particle velocity are observed that correlate closely with modal beating between the two lowest order guided fiber modes. (C) 2011 Optical Society of America

Ultraviolet-enhanced supercontinuum generation in tapered photonic crystal fiber

S. P. Stark, A. Podlipensky, N. Y. Joly, P. St. J. Russell

We investigate numerically and experimentally the propagation of visible sub-50 fs pulses in a tapered small core photonic crystal fiber. The fiber has anomalous dispersion between two closely spaced zero dispersion wavelengths at 509 and 640 nm, and the excitation wavelength was varied within this range. We find that the spectral evolution in the low power regime is dominated by higher-order soliton fission, soliton self-frequency shift, and dispersive wave generation. At higher powers, extremely wide spectral broadening of the input pulse occurs within the first few millimeters of fiber. The wavelength conversion into the blue and red spectral ranges is studied as a function of the input power and excitation wavelength. Conversions into the spectral range 300-470 nm at efficiencies as high as 40% are observed when pumping at 523 nm. (C) 2010 Optical Society of America

Scaling and complex avalanche dynamics in the Abelian sandpile model

Amir Abdolvand, Afshin Montakhab

We study the two-dimensional Abelian Sandpile Model on a square lattice of linear size L. We introduce the notion of avalanche's fine structure and compare the behavior of avalanches and waves of toppling. We show that according to the degree of complexity in the fine structure of avalanches, which is a direct consequence of the intricate superposition of the boundaries of successive waves, avalanches fall into two different categories. We propose scaling ansatz for these avalanche types and verify them numerically. We find that while the first type of avalanches (alpha) has a simple scaling behavior, the second complex type (beta) is characterized by an avalanche-size dependent scaling exponent. In particular, we define an exponent gamma to characterize the conditional probability distribution functions for these types of avalanches and show that gamma (alpha) = 0.42, while 0.7 a parts per thousand currency sign gamma (beta) a parts per thousand currency sign 1.0 depending on the avalanche size. This distinction provides a framework within which one can understand the lack of a consistent scaling behavior in this model, and directly addresses the long-standing puzzle of finite-size scaling in the Abelian sandpile model.

Plasmon resonances on gold nanowires directly drawn in a step-index fiber

H. K. Tyagi, H. W. Lee, P. Uebel, M. A. Schmidt, N. Joly, M. Scharrer, P. St. J. Russell

We report the successful production of high-quality gold wires, with diameters down to 260 nm, by direct fiber drawing from a gold-filled fused-silica cane. The stack-and-draw technique makes it straightforward to incorporate a conventional step-index core, adjacent to the gold wire, in the cane. In the drawn fiber, strong coupling of light from the glass core to SPP resonances on the gold wire is observed at specific well-defined wavelengths. Such embedded wires have many potential applications, for example, as nanoscale electrodes, in nonlinear optical plasmonics, and as near-field scanning optical microscope tips. (C) 2010 Optical Society of America

Spatiotemporal evolution of femtosecond laser pulses guided in air-clad fused-silica nanoweb

C. Kreuzer, A. Podlipensky, P. St. J. Russell

We investigate nonlinear propagation and self-focusing of femtosecond Ti:sapphire laser pulses in an 800-nm-thick silica nanoweb fiber. Different dispersion regimes are accessible by launching TE- or TM-polarized light. Excitation in the anomalous dispersion regime (TM) results in pulse splitting and spectral broadening, which lead to supercontinuum generation, whereas, for normal dispersion (TE, excited close to a zero dispersion wavelength), self-phase modulation causes spectral broadening, which leads at higher power to beam collapse and the creation of a damage track. (C) 2010 Optical Society of America

Precise balancing of viscous and radiation forces on a particle in liquid-filled photonic-bandgap fiber (vol 34, pg 3674, 2009)

T. G. Euser, M. K. Garbos, J. S. Y. Chen, P. St J. Russell

Direct Observation of Self-Similarity in Evolution of Transient Stimulated Raman Scattering in Gas-Filled Photonic Crystal Fibers

A. Nazarkin, A. Abdolvand, A. V. Chugreev, P. St. J. Russell

A unique characteristic of transient stimulated Raman scattering, in which the spatiotemporal evolution of the fields and the molecular excitation follow a universal self-similarity law, is observed in gas-filled photonic crystal fibers. As the input laser power is increased, the coupled system "optical fields + molecular excitation" goes through the same phases of time evolution but at a higher rate. Using the self-similarity law we are able to completely reconstruct the evolution of the pump and Stokes fields from one measurement.

Understanding Raman-shifting multipeak states in photonic crystal fibers: two convergent approaches

Alexander Hause, Truong X. Tran, Fabio Biancalana, Alexander Podlipensky, Philip St J. Russell, Fedor Mitschke

In this Letter we give theoretical explanations for the recent observations of the excitation of Raman-shifting pulse pairs in solid-core photonic crystal fibers. The formation of these pairs is surprisingly common in the deep anomalous dispersion regime of a large variety of highly nonlinear optical fibers, away from zero group-velocity dispersion points. We have developed two different theoretical models, which agree very well in their conclusions. A qualitative and a quantitative explanation of pair formation is provided, and the existence of multipeak states is predicted. (C) 2010 Optical Society of America

Broadband NIR photoluminescence from Bi-doped Ba2P2O7 crystals: Insights into the nature of NIR-emitting Bismuth centers

Mingying Peng, Benjamin Sprenger, Markus A. Schmidt, Harald G. L. Schwefel, Lothar Wondraczek

We report on a novel type of Bi-doped crystal that exhibits ultrabroadband photoluminescence in the near infrared (NIR). Emission centers can be generated and degenerated reversibly by annealing the material in CO atmosphere and air, respectively, indicating that emission is related to the presence of Bi-species in low valence states. Correlating static and dynamic excitation and emission data with the size and charge of available lattice sites suggests that two types of Bi-0-species, each located on one of the two available Ba2+ lattice sites, are responsible for NIR photoemission. This is further confirmed by the absence of NIR emission in polycrystalline Ca2P2O7:Bi and Sr2P2O7:Bi. Excitation is assigned to transitions between the doubly degenerated ground state S-4(3/2) and the degenerated excited levels D-2(3/2), D-2(5/2) and P-2(1/2), respectively. NIR emission is attributed to D-2(3/2) -> S-4(3/2). The NIR emission center can coexist with Bi2+ species. Then, also Bi2+ is accommodated on one of the two Ba2+-sites. Energy transfer between Bi2+ ions occurs within a critical distance of 25.9 angstrom. (C) 2010 Optical Society of America

All-Optical Control of Gigahertz Acoustic Resonances by Forward Stimulated Interpolarization Scattering in a Photonic Crystal Fiber

M. S. Kang, A. Brenn, P. St. J. Russell

We report the observation of a novel nonlinear optoacoustic phenomenon, that we name forward stimulated interpolarization scattering. When two frequency-offset laser signals are colaunched into orthogonally polarized guided modes of a birefringent small-core (1.8 mu m diameter) photonic crystal fiber, a pattern of axially moving polarization fringes is produced, with a velocity and spacing that depends on the frequency offset. At values of frequency offset in the few-GHz range, the pattern of moving fringes can perfectly match the phase velocity and axial wavelength (3.9 mm) of the torsional-radial acoustic mode tightly guided in the core. An intense optoacoustic interaction ensues, leading to efficient nonlinear exchange of power from the higher frequency (pump) mode to the orthogonally polarized lower frequency (Stokes) mode. A full-vectorial theory is developed to explain the observations.

Multiple hydrodynamical shocks induced by the Raman effect in photonic crystal fibers

C. Conti, S. Stark, P. St. J. Russell, F. Biancalana

We theoretically predict the occurrence of multiple hydrodynamical-like shock phenomena in the propagation of ultrashort intense pulses in a suitably engineered photonic crystal fiber. The shocks are due to the Raman effect, which acts as a nonlocal term favoring their generation in the focusing regime. It is shown that the problem is mapped to shock formation in the presence of a slope and a gravity-like potential. The signature of multiple shocks in cross-correlation frequency-resolved optical gating (XFROG) signals is unveiled.

Manipulation of coherent Stokes light by transient stimulated Raman scattering in gas filled hollow-core PCF

A. V. Chugreev, A. Nazarkin, A. Abdolvand, J. Nold, A. Podlipensky, P. St. J. Russell

Transient stimulated Raman scattering is investigated in methane-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fiber. Using frequency-chirped ps-pulses at 1.06 mu m as pump and tunable CW-radiation as Stokes seed, the vibrational excitation of the CH4 molecules can be controlled on the sub T-2 time-scale. In this way the generated Stokes pulse can be phase-locked to the pump pulse and its spectrum manipulated. (c) 2009 Optical Society of America

Influence of air-filling fraction on forward Raman-like scattering by transversely trapped acoustic resonances in photonic crystal fibers

A. Brenn, G. S. Wiederhecker, M. S. Kang, H. Hundertmark, N. Joly, P. St. J. Russell

Raman-like forward scattering by acoustic phonons transversely trapped in birefringent silica-air photonic crystal fibers is studied. As the air-filling fraction increases, core-confined acoustic resonances become increasingly apparent at higher frequencies (> 1.1 GHz), while the number of cladding-confined acoustic modes involved in scattering falls. Two main types of scattering are observed: intramodal (scattering to new frequencies within the same optical mode) and intermodal (frequency-shifted scattering to a different optical mode). It is shown that the twofold symmetric microstructure in a birefringent fiber causes strongly polarization-dependent intramodal scattering. Good agreement is obtained between the experimental measurements and numerical solutions of both the acoustic and electromagnetic wave equations by using a full-vectorial finite-element approach. Phononic bandgaps are found to play a significant role at higher air-filling fractions, leading to the appearance of additional bands in the scattering spectrum. (C) 2009 Optical Society of America

Precise balancing of viscous and radiation forces on a particle in liquid-filled photonic bandgap fiber

T. G. Euser, M. K. Garbos, J. S. Y. Chen, P. St. J. Russell

A great challenge in microfluidics is the precise control of laser radiation forces acting on single particles or cells, while allowing monitoring of their optical and chemical properties. We show that, in the liquid-filled hollow core of a single-mode photonic crystal fiber, a micrometer-sized particle can be held stably against a fluidic counterflow using radiation pressure and can be moved to and fro (over tens of centimeters) by ramping the laser power up and down. Accurate studies of the microfluidic drag forces become possible, because the particle is trapped in the center of the single guided optical mode, resulting in highly reproducible radiation forces. The counterflowing liquid can be loaded with sequences of chemicals in precisely controlled concentrations and doses, making possible studies of single particles, vesicles, or cells. (C) 2009 Optical Society of America

Solitary Pulse Generation by Backward Raman Scattering in H-2-Filled Photonic Crystal Fibers

A. Abdolvand, A. Nazarkin, A. V. Chugreev, C. F. Kaminski, P. St. J. Russell

Using a hydrogen-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fiber as a nonlinear optical gas cell, we study amplification of ns-laser pulses by backward rotational Raman scattering. We find that the amplification process has two characteristic stages. Initially, the pulse energy grows and its duration shortens due to gain saturation at the trailing edge of the pulse. This phase is followed by formation of a symmetric pulse with a duration significantly shorter than the phase relaxation time of the Raman transition. Stabilization of the Stokes pulse profile to a solitonlike hyperbolic secant shape occurs as a result of nonlinear amplification at its front edge and nonlinear absorption at its trailing edge (caused by energy conversion back to the pump field), leading to a reshaped pulse envelope that travels at superluminal velocity.

Optimizing anti-Stokes Raman scattering in gas-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fibers

A. Nazarkin, A. Abdolvand, P. St. J. Russell

Anti-Stokes Raman scattering in gas-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fibers is discussed. It is shown that the efficient anti-Stokes generation observed under conditions of significant wave mismatch is caused by phase locking of the interacting fields. This leads to the establishment of a phase difference that is independent of the optical path. An optimization technique, based on the adjustment of the wave mismatch along a gas-filled hollow fiber using pressure control, is proposed. Anti-Stokes conversion efficiencies close to the theoretical maximum of 50% are predicted.

All-solid bandgap guiding in tellurite-filled silica photonic crystal fibers

Markus A. Schmidt, Nicolai Granzow, Ning Da, Mingying Peng, Lothar Wondraczek, Philip St. J. Russell

We report all-solid bandgap-guiding fibers formed by pumping molten tellurite glass into silica-air photonic crystal fiber at high pressure. The spectral positions of the guidance bands agree well with multipole simulations and bandgap calculations. The micrometer-diameter tellurite strands are found to contain microheterogeneities (most probably originating from devitrification), which increase the fiber attenuation, although no evidence of crystallization is seen in the bulk tellurite glass. The technique offers a potential route to employing difficult-to-handle glasses, or glasses unsuitable for fiber drawing, in fiber-based amplifiers, modulators, filters, and nonlinear devices. (C) 2009 Optical Society of America

Tightly trapped acoustic phonons in photonic crystal fibres as highly nonlinear artificial Raman oscillators

M. S. Kang, A. Nazarkin, A. Brenn, P. St. J. Russell

Interactions between light and hypersonic waves can be enhanced by tight field confinement, as shown in periodically structured materials(1), microcavities(2), micromechanical resonators(3) and photonic crystal fibres(4-6) (PCFs). There are many examples of weak sound-light interactions, for example, guided acoustic-wave Brillouin scattering in conventional optical fibres(7). This forward-scattering effect results from the interaction of core-guided light with acoustic resonances of the entire fibre cross-section, and is viewed as a noise source in quantum-optics experiments(8). Here, we report the observation of strongly nonlinear forward scattering of laser light by gigahertz acoustic vibrations, tightly trapped together in the small core of a silica-air PCF. Bouncing to and fro across the core at close to 90 degrees to the fibre axis, the acoustic waves form optical-phonon-like modes with a flat dispersion curve and a distinct cutoff frequency Omega(a). This ensures automatic phase-matching to the guided optical mode so that, on pumping with a dual-frequency laser source tuned to Omega(a), multiple optical side bands are generated, spaced by Omega(a). The number of strong side bands in this Raman-like process increases with pump power. The results point to a new class of designable nonlinear optical device with applications in, for example, pulse synthesis, frequency comb generation for telecommunications and fibre laser mode-locking.

Octave-spanning supercontinuum generated in SF6-glass PCF by a 1060 nm mode-locked fibre laser delivering 20 pJ per pulse

H. Hundertmark, S. Rammler, T. Wilken, R. Holzwarth, T. W. Haensch, P. St. J. Russell

We report the generation of an octave-spanning supercontinuum in SF6-glass photonic crystal fiber using a diode-pumped passively modelocked fs Yb-fiber laser oscillating at 1060 nm. The pulses (energy up to 500 pJ and duration 60 fs) were launched into a 4 cm length of PCF (core diameter 1.7 mu m and zero-dispersion wavelength similar to 1060 nm). Less than 20 pJ of launched pulse energy was sufficient to generate a supercontinuum from 600 nm to 1450 nm, which represents the lowest energy so far reported for generation of an octave-spanning supercontinuum from a 1 mu m pump. Since the laser pulse energy scales inversely with the repetition rate, highly compact and efficient sources based on SF6-glass PCF are likely to be especially useful for efficient spectral broadening at high repetition rates (several GHz), such as those needed for the precise calibration of astronomical spectrographs, where a frequency comb spacing > 10 GHz is required for the best performance. (C) 2009 Optical Society of America

Broadband sensitive pump-probe setup for ultrafast optical switching of photonic nanostructures and semiconductors

Tijmen G. Euser, Philip J. Harding, Willem L. Vos

We describe an ultrafast time resolved pump-probe spectroscopy setup aimed at studying the switching of nanophotonic structures. Both femtosecond pump and probe pulses can be independently tuned over broad frequency range between 3850 and 21 050 cm(-1). A broad pump scan range allows a large optical penetration depth, while a broad probe scan range is crucial to study strongly photonic crystals. A new data acquisition method allows for sensitive pump-probe measurements, and corrects for fluctuations in probe intensity and pump stray light. We observe a tenfold improvement of the precision of the setup compared to laser fluctuations, allowing a measurement accuracy of better than Delta R=0.07% in a 1 s measurement time. Demonstrations of the improved technique are presented for a bulk Si wafer, a three-dimensional Si inverse opal photonic bandgap crystal, and z-scan measurements of the two-photon absorption coefficient of Si, GaAs, and the three-photon absorption coefficient of GaP in the infrared wavelength range.

CO2 laser writing of long-period fiber grating in photonic crystal fiber under tension

H. W. Lee, K. S. Chiang

We demonstrate that the efficiency of CO2 laser writing of longperiod fiber gratings in a solid-core photonic crystal fiber (PCF) can be enhanced greatly by applying tension to the fiber during the writing process through the mechanism of frozen-in viscoelasticity. Using this mechanism, we are able to write strong gratings in PCFs with a dosage of CO2 laser radiation low enough not to cause any significant fiber structure deformation. (C) 2009 Optical Society of America

Anomalous pulse breakup in small-core photonic crystal fibers

A. Podlipensky, P. Szarniak, N. Y. Joly, P. St. J. Russell

Detailed numerical and experimental studies of propagation of 110 fs laser pulses at 800 am in small-core photonic crystal fibers (gamma = 100 W (1) km(-1)) reveal that pulse breakup occurs in two distinct regimes defined by the input power. At low peak power (soliton order N <= g7) higher-order soliton fission occurs: individual solitons being ejected from the input pulse one after the other and are at-ranged in wavelength and in time by peak power. At higher levels of peak power (N>8), pulse breakup results in ejection of bound soliton pairs and the formation of single solitons that collide during propagation. (C) 2008 Optical Society of America

Bound soliton pairs in photonic crystal fiber

A. Podlipensky, P. Szarniak, N. Y. Joly, C. G. Poulton, P. St. J. Russell

We demonstrate experimentally the formation and stable propagation of bound soliton pairs in a highly nonlinear photonic crystal fiber. The bound pairs occur at a particular power as the consequence of high-order soliton fission. They propagate over long distances with constant inter-soliton frequency and time separation. During propagation, the soliton self-frequency shift causes the central frequency of the pairs to move towards longer wavelength. The formation and characteristics of the bound soliton pairs are confirmed numerically. We believe this to be the first experimental observation of such bound soliton pairs. (c) 2007 Optical Society of America.

Heat dissipative solitons in optical fibers

N. Akhmediev, P. St. J. Russell, M. Taki, J. M. Soto-Crespo

We propose a one-dimensional model governing the propagation of heat waves in an optical fiber (the "fiber fuse"). The model has solutions in the form of high temperature localized waves moving towards the input end of the fiber, fueled by the laser power. These waves can be ignited by local heating at any point along the fiber. The effect of such a wave is irreversible damage to the fiber core. The phenomenon was observed earlier by Hand and Russell, when locally heating a fiber through which CW light of modest intensity was propagating. This induced self-destruction of the optical fiber core. (c) 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Numerical study of guided modes in arrays of metallic nanowires

C. G. Poulton, M. A. Schmidt, G. J. Pearce, G. Kakarantzas, P. St. J. Russell

We numerically investigate the band structure and guided modes within arrays of metallic nanowires. We show that bandgaps appear for a range of array geometries and that these can be used to guide light in these structures. Values of attenuation as low as 1.7 dB/cm are predicted for arrays of silver wires at communications wavelengths. This is more than 100 times smaller than the attenuation of the surface plasmon polariton modes on a single silver nanowire. (c) 2007 Optical Society of America.

Quasi-phase-matched high harmonic generation in hollow core photonic crystal fibers

H. Ren, A. Nazarkin, J. Nold, P. St. J. Russell

The potential of hollow core photonic crystal fiber as a nonlinear gas cell for efficient high harmonic generation is discussed. The feasibility of phase-matching this process by modulating the phase of ionization electrons using a counter-propagating laser field is shown. In this way, harmonics with energies of several hundreds of eV can be produced using fs-laser pump pulses of mu J energy. (C) 2008 Optical Society of America

Spectrally smooth supercontinuum from 350 nm to 3 mu m in sub-centimeter lengths of soft-glass photonic crystal fibers.

FG Omenetto, NA Wolchover, MR Wehner, M Ross, A Efimov, AJ Taylor, VVRK Kumar, AK George, JC Knight, et al.

The conversion of light fields in photonic crystal fibers ( PCFs) capitalizes on the dramatic enhancement of several optical nonlinearities. We present here spectrally smooth, highly broadband supercontinuum radiation in a short piece of high-nonlinearity soft-glass PCF. This supercontinuum spans several optical octaves, with a spectral range extending from 350 nm to beyond 3000 nm. The selection of an appropriate propagation-length determines the spectral quality of the supercontinuum generated. Experimentally, we clearly identify two regimes of nonlinear pulse transformation: when the fiber length is much shorter than the dispersion length, soliton propagation is not important and a symmetric supercontinuum spectrum arises from almost pure self-phase modulation. For longer fiber lengths the supercontinuum is formed by the breakup of multiple Raman-shifting solitons. In both regions very broad supercontinuum radiation is produced. (c) 2006 Optical Society of America.

Stimulated Brillouin scattering from multi-GHz-guided acoustic phonons in nanostructured photonic crystal fibres

P. Dainese, P. St. J. Russell, N. Joly, J. C. Knight, G. S. Wiederhecker, H. L. Fragnito, V. Laude, A. Khelif

Wavelength-scale periodic microstructuring dramatically alters the optical properties of materials. An example is glass photonic crystal fibre(1) ( PCF), which guides light by means of a lattice of hollow micro/nanochannels running axially along its length. In this letter, we explore stimulated Brillouin scattering in PCFs with subwavelength-scale solid silica glass cores. The large refractive-index difference between air and glass allows much tighter confinement of light than is possible in all-solid single-mode glass optical fibres made using conventional techniques. When the silica-air PCF has a core diameter of around 70% of the vacuum wavelength of the launched laser light, we find that the spontaneous Brillouin signal develops a highly unusual multi-peaked spectrum with Stokes frequency shifts in the 10-GHz range. We attribute these peaks to several families of guided acoustic modes each with different proportions of longitudinal and shear strain, strongly localized to the core(2,3). At the same time, the threshold power for stimulated Brillouin scattering(4) increases fivefold. The results show that Brillouin scattering is strongly affected by nanoscale microstructuring, opening new opportunities for controlling light-sound interactions in optical fibres.

Coherent control of ultrahigh-frequency acoustic resonances in photonic crystal fibers

G. S. Wiederhecker, A. Brenn, H. L. Fragnito, P. St. J. Russell

Ultrahigh frequency acoustic resonances (2 GHz) trapped within the glass core (1 mu m diameter) of a photonic crystal fiber are selectively excited through electrostriction using laser pulses of duration 100 ps and energy 500 pJ. Using precisely timed sequences of such driving pulses, we achieve coherent control of the acoustic resonances by constructive or destructive interference, demonstrating both enhancement and suppression of the vibrations. A sequence of 27 resonantly-timed pulses provides a 100-fold increase in the amplitude of the vibrational mode. The results are explained and interpreted using a semianalytical theory, and supported by precise numerical simulations of the complex light-matter interaction.

Long-range spiralling surface plasmon modes on metallic nanowires

M. A. Schmidt, P. St. J. Russell

We discuss the characteristics of surface plasmon modes guided on metallic nanowires of circular cross-section embedded in silica glass. Under certain conditions such wires allow low-loss guided modes, full account being taken of ohmic losses in the metal. We find that these modes can be bound to the wire even when the real part of their axial refractive index is less than that of the surrounding dielectric. We assess in detail the accuracy of a simple model in which SPs are viewed as spiralling around the nanowire in a helical path, forming modes at certain angles of pitch. The results are relevant for understanding the behavior of light in twodimensional arrays of metallic nanowires in fiber form. (c) 2008 Optical Society of America.

Optical excitation and characterization of gigahertz acoustic resonances in optical fiber tapers

Myeong Soo Kang, Andre Brenn, Gustavo S. Wiederhecker, Philip St. J. Russell

Transverse acoustic resonances at gigahertz frequencies are excited by electrostriction in the few-micrometer-thick waists of low-loss optical fiber tapers of up to 40 cm long. A pump-probe technique is used in which the resonances are excited by a train of optical pulses and probed in a Sagnac interferometer. Strong radially symmetric acoustic resonances are observed and the dependence of their frequencies on taper thickness is investigated. Such easily reconfigurable acousto-optic interactions may have applications in the high-frequency mode locking of fiber lasers. (C) 2008 American Institute of Physics.