Hollow core fiber based parametric sources

Fiber Optical Parametric Amplification (FOPA – ) with a silica-based solid core [RE 167] has been widely studied in the context of telecommunications for its interesting features such as wide spectral band gain, low noise and very high gain. The principle is based on a Four Wave Mixing (FWM) process with an adapted phase relationship. The four waves are: one or two high-power pump waves, a weak signal and a complementary wave (also known as an idler) generated during non-linear interaction in the fiber. Recently, considerable efforts have also been made to develop sources with tunable spectra or ultra-short optical pulses, taking advantage of the performance of parametric amplification. However, this major application requires peak power management to avoid damage, particularly to the fiber, and unwanted non-linear effects. This is usually achieved by adapting the duration of the incident pulses through phase drift. In addition, the use of suitable fibers enables us to increase the energy transmitted and thus to achieve high power after pulse compression. An excellent approach is therefore to perform optical parametric amplification with fibers whose damage threshold is much higher than that of solid fibers. Hollow fibers are therefore very interesting candidates, as they have already demonstrated their ability to guide ultra-short pulses.

In the remainder of the article, we present the background (§ 1 ), the general properties of the hollow fibers needed to realize a four-wave mixture (§ 2 ). The optical parametric process is then described...