Optical Fibers: Materials and Applications

Birefringence in Optical Fibers: Applications

As discussed in the previous chapter, the so-called single-mode fibers in fact support two modes simultaneously, which are orthogonally polarized. In an ideal circular-core fiber, these two modes will propagate with the same phase velocity; however, practical fibers are not perfectly circularly symmetric. As a result, the two modes propagate with slightly different phase and group velocities. F...

Semiconductor Optical Fibers for Nonlinear Applications

The nascent field of semiconductor optical fibers is attracting increased interest as a means to exploit the optoelectronic functionality of the semiconductor materials directly within the fiber geometry [1]. Compared to their planar counterparts, this new class of waveguide retains many of the advantageous properties of the fiber platforms such as robustness, flexibility, cylindrical symmetry,...

Cross-phase modulation and induced focusing due to optical nonlinearities in optical fibers and bulk materials

Cross-phase modulation (XPM) and induced focusing occur when copropagating ultrafast pulses interact in a nonlinear medium. XPM and induced focusing are investigated as new techniques to control the spectral, temporal, and spatial properties of ultrafast pulses with femtosecond time response. In this paper we review our most recent measurements on (1) induced spectral broadening in BK7 glass, (...

Nanoporous compound materials for optical applications

Planar chiral meta-materials for optical applications

Using electron beam lithography we have fabricated arrays of metallic and non-metallic planar chiral structures on silicon substrates, and observed the pronounced effects of their chirality on the polarization states of the diffracted light in the transmission regime. Significant differences in polarization properties were observed between metallic and polymer structures, most notably in the de...