0000000000444108

AUTHOR

Benoît Barviau

Truncated thermalization of incoherent optical waves through supercontinuum generation in photonic crystal fibers

We revisit the process of optical wave thermalization through supercontinuum generation in photonic crystal fibers. We report theoretically and numerically a phenomenon of `truncated thermalization': The incoherent optical wave exhibits an irreversible evolution toward a Rayleigh-Jeans thermodynamic equilibrium state characterized by a compactly supported spectral shape. The theory then reveals the existence of a frequency cut-off which regularizes the ultraviolet catastrophe inherent to ensembles of classical nonlinear waves. This phenomenon sheds new light on the mechanisms underlying the formation of bounded supercontinuum spectra in photonic crystal fibers.

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Emergence of spectral incoherent solitons through supercontinuum generation in photonic crystal fibers

International audience; We report an experimental and numerical study of the spontaneous emergence of spectral incoherent solitons through supercontinuum generation in a two zero-dispersionwavelengths photonic crystal fiber. By using a simple experimental setup, we show that the highly nonlinear regime of supercontinuum generation is characterized by the emergence of a spectral incoherent soliton in the low-frequency edge of the supercontinuum spectrum. We show that a transition occurs from the discrete spectral incoherent soliton to its continuous counterpart as the power of the laser is increased. Contrary to conventional solitons, spectral incoherent solitons do not exhibit a confinement…

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Spectral incoherent solitons

Solitons have been usually considered as inherently coherent localized structures and the discovery of incoherent optical solitons has represented a significant progress [1]. As occurs for standard coherent solitons, incoherent solitons are characterized by a confinement of the field in the spatial or in the temporal domain. We introduce here a novel type of incoherent solitons that are neither spatial nor temporal, i.e., the incoherent field does not exhibit any confinement in the spatiotemporal domain; however, the uncorrelated frequency components that constitute the incoherent field exhibit a localized soliton behavior in the frequency domain [2].

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Laser impulsionnel Raman à verrouillage de modes passif fonctionnant à 1 GHz

National audience

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Thermodynamic approach of supercontinuum generation in photonic crystal fiber

We show that the spectral broadening process inherent to supercontinuum generation may be described as a thermalization process, which results from the natural irreversible evolution of the optical field towards a thermodynamic equilibrium state.

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Thermodynamic approach of supercontinuum generation

International audience; This paper is aimed at providing an overview on recent theoretical and experimental works in which a thermodynamic description of the incoherent regime of supercontinuum generation has been formulated. On the basis of the wave turbulence theory, we show that this highly nonlinear and quasi-continuous-wave regime of supercontinuum generation is characterized by two different phenomena. (i) A process of optical wave thermalization ruled by the four-wave mixing effects: The spectral broadening inherent to supercontinuum generation is shown to result from the natural tendency of the optical field to reach its thermodynamic equilibrium state, i. e., the state of maximum n…

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Towards a Thermodynamic Description of Supercontinuum Generation

Based on the kinetic wave theory, we describe continuous-wave supercontinuum generation as a thermalization process, i.e., an irreversible evolution of the optical field towards a state of maximum nonequilibrium entropy.

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Thermodynamic approach of statistical nonlinear optics

The coherence properties of random nonlinear optical fields can be described in detail by thermodynamic arguments based on the wave turbulence theory. We shall review recent progress on this kinetic approach of statistical nonlinear optics.

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High-harmonic km-long self-pulsed Raman fiber laser

Raman all-fiber lasers have attracted considerable interest during the past two decades due to their convenient use and extended wavelength coverage when compared to rare-earth-doped fiber lasers. Still, little is known about their potential as pulsed laser sources. Mode locked Raman fiber lasers have been demonstrated quite recently [1,2], as well as harmonic mode-locking with a record of 500,000 intra-cavity pulses in a dissipative four-wave mixing configuration using a fiber Bragg grating [3].

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Experimental signature of optical wave thermalization through supercontinuum generation in photonic crystal fiber

International audience; We report an experimental, numerical and theoretical study of the incoherent regime of supercontinuum generation in a two zero dispersion wavelengths fiber. By using a simple experimental setup, we show that the phenomenon of spectral broadening inherent to supercontinuum generation can be described as a thermalization process, which is characterized by an irreversible evolution of the optical field towards a thermal equilibrium state. In particular, the thermodynamic equilibrium spectrum predicted by the kinetic wave theory is characterized by a double peak structure, which has been found in quantitative agreement with the numerical simulations without adjustable pa…

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Thermodynamic description of supercontinuum generation

International audience

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Wave-turbulence approach of supercontinuum generation: Influence of self-steepening and higher-order dispersion

International audience; We analyze the influence of self-steepening and higher-order dispersion on the process of optical wave thermalization. This study is aimed at developing a thermodynamic formulation of supercontinuum generation in photonic crystal fibers. In the highly nonlinear regime of supercontinuum generation, the optical field exhibits a turbulent dynamics that may be described by the kinetic wave theory. In this respect, the phenomenon of spectral broadening inherent to supercontinuum generation may be interpreted as a natural process of thermalization, which is characterized by an irreversible evolution of the optical field toward a thermodynamic equilibrium state. The numeric…

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Thermalization of random nonlinear waves: Application to optical waves

International audience

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Création d'un peigne de fréquences de longueur d'onde centrale accordable à partir d'ondes continues

National audience; Nous démontrons expérimentalement la possibilité d'exploiter l'auto-glissement fréquentiel Raman combiné soit à la compression d'un battement sinusoïdal, soit à l'instabilité de modulation induite. Les deux approches ont permis de générer un peigne de fréquences de largeur spectrale supérieure à 100 nm dont la fréquence centrale s'est décalée vers les hautes longueurs d'ondes.

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Toward a thermodynamic description of supercontinuum generation

International audience; We consider the incoherent nonlinear regime of the supercontinuum generation process in optical fibers. We show that, under certain conditions, the phenomenon of spectral broadening inherent to the supercontinuum generation may be described by simple thermodynamic arguments based on the kinetic wave theory. Accordingly, the supercontinuum generation process may be regarded as a thermalization process, which is characterized by an irreversible evolution of the optical field toward a thermodynamic equilibrium state, i.e., the state of maximum nonequilibrium entropy.

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Parabolic pulse generation with active or passive dispersion decreasing optical fibers

International audience; We experimentally demonstrate the possibility to generate parabolic pulses via a single dispersion decreasing optical fiber with normal dispersion. We numerically and experimentally investigate the influence of the dispersion profile, and we show that a hybrid configuration combining dispersion decrease and gain has several benefits on the parabolic generated pulses.

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