Visible photon generation via four-wave mixing in near-infrared near-zero-index thin films.

Optical nonlinearities can be strongly enhanced by operating in the so-called near-zero-index (NZI) regime, where the real part of the refractive index of the system under investigation approaches zero. Here we experimentally demonstrate semi-degenerate four-wave mixing (FWM) in aluminum zinc oxide thin films generating radiation tunable in the visible spectral region, where the material is highly transparent. To this end, we employed an intense pump (787 nm) and a seed tunable in the NIR window (1100-1500 nm) to generate a visible idler wave (530-620 nm). Experiments show enhancement of the frequency conversion efficiency with a maximum of 2% and a signal-to-pump detuning of 360 nm. Effective idler wavelength tuning has also been demonstrated by operating on the temporal delay between the pump and signal.

Ultra-broadband supercontinuum generation in gas-filled photonic-crystal fibers: the epsilon-near-zero regime.

In this Letter, we show theoretically that the nonlinear photoionization process of a noble gas inside a hollow-core photonic-crystal fiber can be exploited in obtaining broadband supercontinuum generation via pumping close to the mid-infrared regime. The interplay between the Kerr and photoionization nonlinearities is strongly enhanced in this regime. Photoionization continuously modifies the medium dispersion, in which the refractive index starts to significantly decrease and approach the epsilon-near-zero regime. Subsequently, the self-phase modulation induced by the Kerr effect is boosted because of the accompanied slow-light effect. As a result of this interplay, an output spectrum that comprises a broadband light with multiple dispersive wave emission is obtained.

Impact of nonlinear effects on transmission losses of hollow-core antiresonant negative curvature optical fiber.

We investigate the impact of input pulse duration and peak power of a femtosecond laser on pulse broadening and propagation losses in selected hollow-core antiresonant fiber (HC-ARF). The mixed effects of strong self-phase modulation and relatively weak Raman scattering broaden the spectral width, which in turn causes a portion of the output spectrum to exceed the transmission band of the fiber, resulting in transmission losses. By designing and setting up a gas flow control system and a vacuum system, the nonlinear behavior of the fiber filled with different pressurized gases is investigated. The experimental results show that replacing the air molecules in the fiber core with argon can weaken pulse broadening and increase the transmittable peak power by 14 MW for a given 122 MW input, while a vacuum system can reduce the nonlinearity to a larger extent, therefore enhancing the transmission of HC-ARF by at least 26 MW.

Multi-resonant Lugiato-Lefever model.

We introduce a new model that extends the Lugiato-Lefever equation to the description of multiple resonances in Kerr optical cavities. It perfectly agrees quantitatively (in both stationary and dynamical regimes) with the exact Ikeda map, even when using a small number of resonances. Our model predicts the onset of complex phenomena such as the recently observed super-cavity solitons and the coexistence of multiple nonlinear states. It will be of crucial importance for the analytical understanding of new nonlinear phenomena in Kerr cavities when the intensities or nonlinearities are high enough to be able to excite more than one cavity resonance.

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

We introduce a novel design of anti-resonant fibers with negative-curvature square cores to be employed in 1.55 and 2.94 µm 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 µm, with losses of 0.025 and 0.056 dB/m at 1.064 and 1.55 µm, respectively. The second proposed fiber has approximately a 0.023 dB/m guiding loss at 2.94 µm with a small cross-sectional area, useful for laser micromachining applications.

Anderson localisation and optical-event horizons in rogue-soliton generation.

We unveil the relation between the linear Anderson localisation process and nonlinear modulation instability. Anderson localised modes are formed in certain temporal intervals due to the random background noise. Such localised modes seed the formation of solitary waves that will appear during the modulation instability process at those preferred intervals. Afterwards, optical-event horizon effects between dispersive waves and solitons produce an artificial collective acceleration that favours the collision of solitons, which could eventually lead to a rogue-soliton generation.

Superresonant Radiation Stimulated by Higher Harmonics.

Solitons propagating in media with higher-order dispersion will shed radiation known as resonant radiation, with applications in frequency broadening, deep UV sources for spectroscopy, and fundamental studies of soliton physics. Using a recently proposed equation that models the behavior of ultrashort optical pulses in nonlinear media using the analytic signal, we find that the resonant radiation associated with the third-harmonic generation term of the equation is parametrically stimulated with an unprecedented gain. Resonant radiation levels, typically only a small fraction of the soliton, are now as intense as the soliton itself. The mechanism is universal and works also in normal dispersion and with harmonics higher than the third. We report experimental hints of this superresonant radiation stimulated by the fifth harmonic in diamond.

Nonlinear optical properties of multilayer graphene in the infrared.

A negative value for the nonlinear refraction in graphene is experimentally observed and unambiguously verified by performing a theoretical analysis arising from the conductivity of the graphene monolayer. The nonlinear optical properties of multi-layer graphene are experimentally studied by employing the Z-scan technique. The measurements are carried out at 1150, 1550, 1900 and 2400 nm with a 100-femtosecond laser source. Under laser illumination the multi-layer graphene exhibits a transmittance increase due to saturable absorption, followed by optical limiting due to two-photon absorption. The saturation irradiance Isat and the two-photon absorption coefficient ß are measured in the operating wavelength range. Furthermore, an irradiance-dependent nonlinear refraction is observed and discriminated from the conventional nonlinear refraction coefficient n2, which is not irradiance dependent. The values obtained for the irradiance-dependent nonlinear refraction are in the order of ∼10-9 cm2W-1, approximately 8 orders of magnitude larger than any bulk dielectrics.

Nonlinear Cavity and Frequency Comb Radiations Induced by Negative Frequency Field Effects.

Optical Kerr frequency combs (KFCs) are an increasingly important optical metrology tool with applications ranging from ultraprecise spectroscopy to time keeping. KFCs may be generated in compact resonators with extremely high quality factors. Here, we show that the same features that lead to high quality frequency combs in these resonators also lead to an enhancement of nonlinear emissions that may be identified as originating from the presence of a negative frequency (NF) component in the optical spectrum. While the negative frequency component of the spectrum is naturally always present in the real-valued optical field, it is not included in the principal theoretical model used to model nonlinear cavities, i.e., the Lugiato-Lefever equation. We therefore extend these equations in order to include the contribution of NF components and show that the predicted emissions may be studied analytically, in excellent agreement with full numerical simulations. These results are of importance for a variety of fields, such as Bose-Einstein condensates, mode-locked lasers, nonlinear plasmonics, and polaritonics.

Strong Raman-induced noninstantaneous soliton interactions in gas-filled photonic crystal fibers.

We have developed an analytical model based on the perturbation theory to study the optical propagation of two successive solitons in hollow-core photonic crystal fibers filled with Raman-active gases. Based on the time delay between the two solitons, we have found that the trailing soliton dynamics can experience unusual nonlinear phenomena, such as spectral and temporal soliton oscillations and transport toward the leading soliton. The overall dynamics can lead to a spatiotemporal modulation of the refractive index with a uniform temporal period and a uniform or chirped spatial period.

Tunable frequency-up/down conversion in gas-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fibers.

Based on the interplay between photoionization and Raman effects in gas-filled photonic crystal fibers, we propose a new optical device to control frequency conversion of ultrashort pulses. By tuning the input-pulse energy, the output spectrum can be either down-converted, up-converted, or even frequency-shift compensated. For low input energies, the Raman effect is dominant and leads to a redshift that increases linearly during propagation. For larger pulse energies, photoionization starts to take over the frequency-conversion process and induces a strong blueshift. The fiber-output pressure can be used as an additional degree of freedom to control the spectrum shift.

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

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.

Contribution of third-harmonic and negative-frequency polarization fields to self-phase modulation in nonlinear media.

We study the influence of third-harmonic generation (THG) and negative-frequency polarization terms in the self-phase modulation (SPM) of short and intense pulses in Kerr media. We find that THG induces additional symmetric lobes in the SPM process. The amplitude of these new sidebands are greatly enhanced by the contributions of the negative-frequency Kerr (NFK) term and the shock operator. We compare our theoretical predictions based on the analytical nonlinear phase with simulations carried out by using the full unidirectional pulse propagation equation (UPPE).

Optical simulation of neutrino oscillations in binary waveguide arrays.

We theoretically propose and investigate an optical analogue of neutrino oscillations in a pair of vertically displaced binary waveguide arrays with longitudinally modulated effective refractive index. Optical propagation is modeled through coupled-mode equations, which in the continuous limit converge to two coupled Dirac equations for fermionic particles with different mass states, analogously to neutrinos. In addition to simulating neutrino oscillation in the noninteracting regime, our optical setting enables us to explore neutrino interactions in extreme regimes that are expected to play an important role in massive supernova stars. In particular, we predict the quenching of neutrino oscillations and the existence of topological defects, i.e., neutrino solitons, which in our photonic simulator should be observable as excitation of optical gap solitons propagating along the binary arrays at high excitation intensities.

Suppression and splitting of modulational instability sidebands in periodically tapered optical fibers because of fourth-order dispersion.

We study the modulational instability induced by periodic variations of group-velocity dispersion in the proximity of the zero dispersion point. Multiple instability peaks originating from parametric resonance coexist with the conventional modulation instability because of fourth-order dispersion, which in turn is suppressed by the oscillations of dispersion. Moreover, isolated unstable regions appear in the space of parameters because of imperfect phase matching. This confirms the dramatic effect of periodic tapering in the control and shaping of MI sidebands in optical fibers.

Fourth-order dispersion mediated modulation instability in dispersion oscillating fibers.

We investigate the role played by fourth-order dispersion on the modulation instability process in dispersion oscillating fibers. It not only leads to the appearance of instability sidebands in the normal dispersion regime (as in uniform fibers), but also to a new class of large detuned instability peaks that we ascribe to the variation of dispersion. All these theoretical predictions are experimentally confirmed.

Mimicking the nonlinear dynamics of optical fibers with waveguide arrays: towards a spatiotemporal supercontinuum generation.

We numerically demonstrate the formation of the spatiotemporal version of the so-called diffractive resonant radiation generated in waveguide arrays with Kerr nonlinearity when a long pulse is launched into the system. The phase matching condition for the diffractive resonant radiation that we have found earlier for CW beams also works well in the spatiotemporal case. By introducing a linear potential, one can introduce a continuous shift of the central wavenumber of a linear pulse, whereas in the nonlinear case one can demonstrate that the soliton self-wavenumber shift can be compensated by the emission of diffractive resonant radiation, in a very similar fashion as it is done in optical fibers. This work paves the way for designing unique optical devices that generate spectrally broad supercontinua with a controllable directionality by taking advantage of the combined physics of optical fibers and waveguide arrays.

Ultrashort self-induced transparency plasmon solitons.

We study the interband self-induced transmission of surface plasmon polaritons in a gold film surrounded by an external Kerr medium. We model the optical propagation by using a version of the generalized nonlinear Schrödinger equation for the field envelope coupled to Bloch equations for valence electrons of gold, predicting self-induced transparency of ultrashort plasmon solitons with a pulse duration below 10 fs. We demonstrate that the Kerr nonlinearity from the surrounding dielectric can be used to compensate for the group velocity dispersion, and that the impact of dephasing and decay processes can be effectively reduced by the self-induced transmission mechanism.

Diffractive resonant radiation emitted by spatial solitons in waveguide arrays.

We study analytically and numerically the diffractive resonant radiation emitted by spatial solitons, which is generated in waveguide arrays with Kerr nonlinearity. The phase matching condition between solitons and radiation is derived and studied for the first time and agrees well with direct pulse propagation simulations. The folded dispersion due to the Brillouin zone leads to a peculiar anomalous soliton recoil that we describe in detail.

Interaction between optical fields and their conjugates in nonlinear media.

Motivated by recent experimental results, we demonstrate that the ubiquitous pulse propagation equation based on a single generalized nonlinear Schrödinger equation is incomplete and inadequate to explain the formation of the so called negative-frequency resonant radiation emitted by optical solitons. The origin of this deficiency is due to the absence of a peculiar nonlinear coupling between the positive and negative frequency components of the pulse spectrum during propagation, a feature that the slowly-varying envelope approximation is unable to capture. We therefore introduce a conceptually new model, based on the envelope of the analytic signal, that takes into account the full spectral dynamics of all frequency components, is prone to analytical treatment and retains the simulation efficiency of the nonlinear Schrödinger equation. We use our new equation to derive from first principles the phase-matching condition of the negative-frequency resonant radiation observed in previously reported experiments.