Polarization mode dispersion reduction in spun large mode area silica holey fibres.

We report the fabrication of the first spun holey optical fibre. Our experiments show that the complex air/glass transverse structure can be retained when the preform is spun during the fibre drawing process. Measurements of differential group delay (DGD) confirm that significant reductions in polarization mode dispersion (PMD) can be readily achieved using this approach.

Raman effects in a highly nonlinear holey fiber: amplification and modulation.

We experimentally demonstrate that a short length of highly nonlinear holey fiber (HF) can be used for strong L(+) -band (1610-1640-nm) Raman amplification and ultrafast signal modulation. We use a pure silica HF with an effective area of just 2.85mum(2) at 1550 nm, which yields an effective nonlinearity ~15 times higher than in conventional silica dispersion-shifted fiber. Using a 75-m length of this fiber, we obtained internal Raman gains of more than 42 dB and a noise figure of ~6 dB under a forward single-pump scheme, and the Raman gain coefficient was experimentally estimated to be 7.6 chi 10(-14)m/W . Also, an 11-dB signal extinction ratio in a Raman-induced all-optical modulation experiment was achieved with the same fiber.

Soliton transmission and supercontinuum generation in holey fiber, using a diode pumped Ytterbium fiber source.

We report linear dispersion compensation, soliton pulse formation, soliton compression, and ultra-broad supercontinuum generation in a holey fiber with anomalous dispersion at wavelengths above 800nm. The holey fiber was seeded with ultrashort pulses from a diode pumped, Ytterbium (Yb)-doped fiber source operating at 1.06 microm. The results highlight the compatibility of the rapidly developing holey fiber technology with short pulse Yb-doped fiber lasers for wide application.

2R-regenerative all-optical switch based on a highly nonlinear holey fiber.

We report the fabrication of a highly nonlinear holey fiber made from pure silica with an effective area of just ~2.8mu;m(2) at 1550 nm. We believe this to be the smallest effective area yet measured for a holey fiber at 1550 nm. We also report the operation of a 2R regenerative optical switch based on just 3.3 m of the fiber that is shown to have 30 times the nonlinear figure of merit of previous devices based on dispersion-shifted fiber.