Effects of Temperature and Axial Strain on Four-Wave Mixing Parametric Frequencies in Microstructured Optical Fibers Pumped in the Normal Dispersion Regime

Abstract

A study of the effect of temperature and axial strain on the parametric wavelengths produced by four-wave mixing in microstructured optical fibers is presented. Degenerate four-wave mixing was generated in the fibers by pumping at normal dispersion, near the zero-dispersion wavelength, causing the appearance of two widely-spaced four-wave mixing spectral bands. Temperature changes, and/or axial strain applied to the fiber, affects the dispersion characteristics of the fiber, which can result in the shift of the parametric wavelengths. We show that the increase of temperature causes the signal and idler wavelengths to shift linearly towards shorter and longer wavelengths, respectively. For the specific fiber of the experiment, the band shift at rates-0.04 nm/º C and 0.3 nm/º C, respectively. Strain causes the parametric bands to shift in the opposite way. The signal band shifted 2.8 nm/mand the idler 5.4 nm/mExperimental observations are backed by numerical simulations.

Tunable Four-Wave Mixing Light Source Based on Photonic Crystal Fibers With Variable Chromatic Dispersion

“…As an example, at room temperature, the ZDW shift rates for each fiber are 773 pm/ • C (PCF-1), 695 pm/ • C (PCF-2), 591 pm/ • C (PCF-3), and 106 pm/ • C (PCF-4). It is worth remarking that the shift rate is approximately between 5 and 36 times larger than the one reported for an empty PCF [17].…”

“…Over the last years, different mechanisms have been exploited to tune the dispersion of a PCF, and hence, the nonlinear effects that can be generated in it [17]. Infiltration of different materials inside the air holes of a PCF can greatly enhance the flexibility of these fibers when the refractive index of those materials is tuned through different mechanisms like temperature, stress or external electric fields [18,19].…”