This paper proposes a method for adjusting light waves propagating in systems composed of photonic fibers, light sources and detection elements. The paper presents the properties of these connections in terms of the loss of signal transmission. Different fiber core areas were analyzed, and measurements of the mode-field diameters (MFDs) of selected fiber structures are presented. The study analyzed two types of LMA (Large Mode Area) fiber structures, and the mode-field diameters of these structures were measured on the basis of the radiation distribution obtained under near-field conditions. The results are compared to the values obtained for a SMF-28 single-mode fiber. The LMA structures analyzed in the paper are characterized by low sensitivity of the MFD parameter to the length of transmitted waves, which creates the possibility of their use as intermediate fibers when connecting optical fibers of different diameters. In the wavelength range from 800 nm to 1600 nm, a 3.5% MFD change was observed for the first investigated LMA structure, and a 1% change was observed for the second. In addition, measurements of the mode-field diameters were also made using the transverse offset method for comparison of the results.
The aim of this work was to induce permanent birefringence both in typical liquid crystal cells and photonic crystal fibers (PCFs) by photo-polymerization. For this purpose three different liquid crystalline materials, namely E7, 5CB, and 6CHBT were combined with a mixture of RM257 monomer and a UV sensitive initiator with the percentage weight less than 10%. Due to the photo-polymerization process it was possible to achieve polymer-stabilized liquid crystal orientation inside LC cells and micro-sized cylindrical glass tubes. In particular, periodic change in spatial molecular orientation was achieved by selective photo-polymerization. Successful results obtained in these simple geometries allowed for the experimental procedure to be repeated in PCFs leading to locally-induced permanent birefringence in PCFs.
All normal dispersion (ANDi) and highly nonlinear chalcogenide glass photonic crystal fiber (PCF) is proposed and numerically investigated for a broad, coherent and ultra-flat mid-infrared supercontinuum generation. The proposed PCF consists of a solid core made of Ga8Sb32S60 glass surrounded by seven rings of air holes arranged in a triangular lattice. We show by employing the finite difference frequency domain (FDFD) method that the Ga8Sb32S60 PCF dispersion properties can be engineered by carefully adjusting the air holes diameter in the cladding region and ANDi regime is achieved over the entire range of wavelengths with a zero chromatic dispersion around 4.5 μm. Moreover, we demonstrate that injecting 50 fs width and 20 kW peak power laser pulses (corresponding to a pulse energy of 1.06 nJ) at a pump wavelength of 4.5 μm into a 1 cm long ANDi Ga8Sb32S60 PCF generates a broad, flat-top and perfectly coherent SC spectrum extending from 1.65 μm to 9.24 μm at the 20 dB spectral flatness. These results make the proposed Ga8Sb32S60 PCF an excellent candidate for various important mid-infrared region applications including mid-infrared spectroscopy, medical imaging, optical coherence tomography and materials characterization.