• Photonics Research
  • Vol. 7, Issue 1, 1 (2019)
Jeff Demas1、2, Lars Rishøj1, Xiao Liu1, Gautam Prabhakar1, and Siddharth Ramachandran1、*
Author Affiliations
  • 1Department of Electrical Engineering, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA
  • 2Currently with The Rockefeller University, New York, New York 10065, USA
  • show less
    DOI: 10.1364/PRJ.7.000001 Cite this Article Set citation alerts
    Jeff Demas, Lars Rishøj, Xiao Liu, Gautam Prabhakar, Siddharth Ramachandran. Intermodal group-velocity engineering for broadband nonlinear optics[J]. Photonics Research, 2019, 7(1): 1 Copy Citation Text show less

    Abstract

    Interest in the nonlinear properties of multi-mode optical waveguides has seen a recent resurgence on account of the large dimensionality afforded by the platform. The large volume of modes in these waveguides provides a new spatial degree of freedom for phase matching nonlinear optical processes. However, this spatial dimension is quantized, which narrows the conversion bandwidths of intermodal processes and constrains spectral and temporal tailoring of the light. Here we show that by engineering the relative group velocity within the spatial dimension, we can tailor the phase-matching bandwidth of intermodal parametric nonlinearities. We demonstrate group-velocity-tailored parametric nonlinear mixing between higher-order modes in a multi-mode fiber with gain bandwidths that are more than an order of magnitude larger than that previously thought possible for intermodal four-wave mixing. As evidence of the technological utility of this methodology, we seed this process to generate the first high-peak-power wavelength-tunable all-fiber quasi-CW laser in the Ti:sapphire wavelength regime. More generally, with the combination of intermodal interactions, which dramatically expand the phase-matching degrees of freedom for nonlinear optics, and intermodal group-velocity engineering, which enables tailoring of the bandwidth of such interactions, we showcase a platform for nonlinear optics that can be broadband while being wavelength agnostic.
    Δβ=2πλpneff(j)(λp)+2πλpneff(k)(λp)2πλsneff(l)(λs)2πλasneff(m)(λas)0,(1)

    View in Article

    Δβ=βj(ωp)+βk(ωp)[βj(ωas)+Δωdβjdω|ωas][βk(ωs)Δωdβkdω|ωs].(2)

    View in Article

    Δβ=Δω(dβkdω|ωsdβjdω|ωas).(3)

    View in Article

    Jeff Demas, Lars Rishøj, Xiao Liu, Gautam Prabhakar, Siddharth Ramachandran. Intermodal group-velocity engineering for broadband nonlinear optics[J]. Photonics Research, 2019, 7(1): 1
    Download Citation