Reef-knot microfiber resonators

International audience

Third-harmonic generation in optical microfibers: From silica experiments to highly nonlinear glass prospects

International audience; Using optical microfibers, phase matching between different propagation modes allows for third-harmonic generation (THG). After detailing the relevant phase matching conditions and overlap integrals, we provide a comparison between THG effective efficiencies in silica and tellurite glasses. We also explain the relatively easy, wideband, conversion that we observe experimentally in silica glass microfibers, from 155 mu m to the green, by the geometry of the tapering region.

Near-field control of optical bistability in a nanocavity

Micro- and nanocavities allow for strong light confinement in very small volume [1]. They give opportunities for new experiments such as cavity quantum electrodynamics, waveguiding, light slowing or trapping…[2] The increase of the electromagnetic (EM) field in the cavity enhances the interaction between light and matter, resulting in the possible observation of nonlinear effects [3]. Several studies have recently been published on the observation and characterisation of nonlinear silicon cavities [4]. As a step further, we propose and demonstrate the feasibility of an innovative way to mechanically control the bistable operating regime of a nanovavity. Using a near-field tip, we switch the…

Langevin’s model for soliton molecules in ultrafast fi ber ring laser cavity: investigating the interplay between noise and inertia

We describe the vibration pattern of a soliton-molecule using the Langevin’s model, i.e. noise source combined with a deterministic model. This simpler model allows investigating the interplay between fl uctuation and dissipation mechanisms at play.

Ternary and quaternary Ge-S-Se-Sb-Te amorphous chalcogenide thin films for mid-infrared applications

International audience; Chalcogenide materials exhibit a unique portfolio of properties which has led to their wide use for nonvolatile memory applications such as optical storage (CD-RW and DVD-RAM), Conductive Bridging Random Access Memory or Phase Change Random Access Memory (PCRAM). More recently, thanks to huge electronic nonlinearities under electrical field application, chalcogenide glasses are considered as most promising materials to be used as Ovonic Threshold Switching (OTS) selectors [1]. Besides, thanks to high transparency window in the infrared range and large optical nonlinearities [2], chalcogenide alloys offer the opportunity of development of innovative mid-infrared (MIR)…

Potentialities of glass air-clad micro- and nanofibers for nonlinear optics

Micro- and nanofibers constitute an attractive platform for testing nonlinear devices with millimeter size in a simple and flexible fashion, with potential applications in ultra-fast all-optical communications. In this article, we present challenges that must be addressed and targets that can be reached using such a platform. We describe a tunable laser source capable of delivering pulses with a kilowatt peak power and a sub-0.1-nm linewidth that is specially designed for the study of resonant devices such as the nonlinear loop resonator. Experimental and simulation results are presented for silica microfiber based nonlinear devices. The prospect of developing hybrid devices combining highl…

Performance of microfiber ring resonators

International audience

Sub-nanosecond nonlinear pulse shaping in microfiber resonators

Thanks to their small size and large index contrast allowing for tight field confinement, optical microfibers are of great interest in nonlinear optics. Their properties have recently been exploited in various devices for supercontinuum generation, pulse compression [1] and third-harmonic generation [2]. Combining field confinement and field enhancement in a loop or knot resonator can result in low-threshold non-linear microfibre devices, in which pulse shaping effects and bistability can be obtained. Such a behaviour has already been observed at a power level of ten milliwatts with millisecond time response, in the case of thermally-induced non-linearity in silica microfibres [3]. In contr…

Microfibres for nonlinear optics

In this thesis, I present my works on the fabrication, the characterization and the use of optical microfibres. Microfibres are optical fibres drawn down to sub-wavelength diameters by a temperature controlled process. Due to their small dimensions, microfibers have very special properties such as a high confinement of the electromagnetic field, a enhanced non-linear coefficient and a large evanescent tail. These properties are studied in the first chapter, after which a description of the techniques used for the drawing and manipulation of the microfibres is given. Next, we present our experiments on non-linear effects in silica microfibres. In particular, we show that it is possible to ge…

Silicon-microring into a fiber laser cavity for high-repetition-rate pulse train generation

International audience; In 1997, Yoshida et al. inserted a Fabry-Perot filter in a modulation instability fiber laser cavity [1], the free spectral range (FSR) of the Fabry-Perot fixed the RF to 115 GHz; however the pulsed laser was poorly stable. Since then, lasers of increasing performance have been demonstrated using variants of this method. In 2012, Peccianti et al., demonstrated the first fiber laser harmonically mode-locked by integrated high-finesse microresonator [2]. The doped silica, on-chip microresonator provided both high spectral selectivity and nonlinearity, thus promoting the dynamics pulsed at 200 GHz. By using a silicon microring resonator (SMRR), this approach lead to the…

Slow and fast nonlinearities in microfiber resonators

Nonlinear optical properties of microfiber resonators are investigated. First, a miniature optical resonator standing in air is realized out of a silica microfiber, and measurements of the intensity transfer function show a wide variety of hysteresis cycles obtained at low scanning frequency of the input power. The results are satisfactorily interpreted through the action of thermally-induced nonlinear phase shifts. Secondly, we discuss the conditions under which the fast Kerr nonlinearity can be used efficiently in microfiber resonators under pulsed optical operation.

Potentialities of glass air-clad micro- and nano-fibers for nonlinear optics

International audience

Glass microfibers: use in nonlinear optics and near-field characterization

International audience

Langevin's Model for Soliton Molecules in Ultrafast Fiber Ring Laser Cavity

Demonstration of a reef knot microfiber resonator.

We propose a new way to realize a microfiber optical resonator by implementing the topology of a reef knot using two microfibers. We describe how this structure, which includes 4 ports and can serve as an add-drop filter, can be fabricated. Resonances in an all-silica reef knot are measured and good fits are obtained from a simple resonator model. We also show the feasibility of assembling a hybrid silica-chalcogenide reef knot structure.

Microfiber Resonators in the Linear and the Nonlinear Regimes

International audience; The microfiber resonators presented here were made by forming an open knot with silica microfibers in air. Resonance spectra were observed in the near infrared and more recently in the visible. The knot structure was mechanically stable and was maintained upon immersion in a liquid. Upon immersion the change of refractive index of the medium surrounding the knot shifted the spectral region where resonances were observed. Moreover, using a liquid which could be polymerized, we have imbedded microfiber knot resonators in a solid matrix to form rugged devices. In the presence of nonlinearity a resonator can exhibit bistability. This behaviour was studied both numericall…

Existence of nested oscillators in soliton molecules revealed by Mode Decomposition

Potentialities of microfibers for non linear optics

Micro- and nanofibers present attractive optical properties and may be used in a variety of structures and devices. We report in this work the first global study on the non linear properties of these microfibers: an adequate source is built and its characteristics are described, our first results with a silica loop resonator are presented. Third harmonic generation is obtained in these conditions, however, the low intrinsic non linear index prevents the generation of large non linear effects. The use of highly non linear materials, such as soft glasses, is therefore discussed, with their potentialities and the challenges their integration with standard microfibers represent.

Third-harmonic generation in optical microfibers

We explain the relatively easy, wideband, THG conversion that we observe experimentally in silica glass microfibers by the tapering geometry. As a challenging perspective, we compare THG effective efficiencies in silica and tellurite glasses.