Abstract

Microstructured optical fiber (MOF) technology has generated several new opportunities for the implementation of optical fibers with novel properties and functions [1]. The novel optical properties of MOFs arise from the combination of wavelength-scale features in the fiber cross-section with the large index-contrast of the materials comprising the microstructured cladding. Due to the higher linear (n) and nonlinear refractive index (n₂) of non-silica glasses as compared to silica, it has been demonstrated that the effective nonlinearit (γ) of a non-silica glass MOF can be between 2-4 orders of magnitudes higher than that of the conventional silica fiber (γ~lW⁻¹km⁻¹), thus enabling the realisation of compact nonlinear devices operating at practical power levels. However, for such applications as wavelength-conversion, optical parametric amplification, supercontinuum generation etc, apart from a high γ value, it is equalty desirable that the nonlinear fiber also exhibits near-zero dispersion and dispersion slope at the operating wavelengths. We report here our recent advances on the fabrication of single-mode highty nonlinear lead-silicate MOFs with low dispersion and dispersion slope values at 1.55 μm.

© 2009 IEEE