Diffraction in air-clad fibres (original) (raw)
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The influence of skew rays on angular losses in air-clad fibres
Optics Communications, 2006
Detailed experimental transmission properties of high numerical aperture air-clad undoped fibres are presented. Measurements of the angular transmissivity indicate a 15% lower numerical aperture (NA = 0.75) compared to theoretical predictions for the bridge thickness and wavelength ratio of d/k = 0.226. The discrepancy is attributed to skew rays that are deliberately launched and which are subject to larger loss rates through diffractive tunnelling in frustrated total internal reflection than meridional rays. Measurements of the angular propagation losses show that light launched at angles less than the critical angle for total internal reflection experiences low initial losses as well as low propagation losses. Light launched at steeper angles experiences a significant initial loss attributed to loss of skew rays within 1.5 m of propagation as well as larger general propagation losses.
Air-clad fibres for astronomical instrumentation: focal-ratio degradation
Experimental Astronomy, 2009
Focal-ratio degradation (FRD) of light launched into high-numerical aperture (NA) single-annulus all-silica undoped air-clad fibres at an NA of 0.54 is reported. The measured annular light distribution remained Gaussian after 30 m of propagation, but the angular FWHM of the output annulus doubled from 4 • after 1 m propagation to 8.5 • after 30 m, which is significantly larger than that reported of standard doped-silica fibres (NA < 0.22). No significant diffractive effects were observed. The design of air-clad fibres for broad-band, high-NA astrophotonics applications is discussed.
Simulations of Pump Absorption in Tandem-Pumped Octagon Double-Clad Fibers
IEEE Photonics Journal, 2021
The cladding pumping within a double-clad fiber structure is an effective technique to convert high-power multimode beam into high-power, almost diffraction limited beam. Since the pump efficiency is limited by the presence of higher skew-ray modes, geometrical perturbations are used to scramble the modes and to achieve a higher overlap of the electromagnetic field with the doped core. In this paper, the combined effect of fiber coiling and twisting is investigated in the double-clad fiber structure with the octagonal shape of an inner cladding. Electromagnetic field propagation through fibers with different cross-section areas, bending radii and twisting rates is numerically simulated using finite element beam propagation method. Holmium-doped double-clad fiber pumped in tandem configuration at wavelength 1950 nm is selected as an example. Nontrivial dependence of pump absorption on bending radius with the presence of local maxima is revealed. The observed impact of fiber coiling and twisting increases with the size of the cross-section area of the inner cladding.
Experimental and scalar beam propagation analysis of an air-silica microstructure fiber
Optics Express, 2000
We study the higher order guided modes in an air-silica microstructure fiber comprising a ring of six large air-holes surrounding a Germanium doped core. We characterize the modes experimentally using an intra-core Bragg grating. The experimentally observed modes are then accurately modeled by beam propagation simulations using an index profile similar to the observed fiber cross section. Theory and experiment confirm the presence of "inner cladding" modes with approximate cylindrical symmetry near the core, similar to conventional cladding modes, but which strongly exhibit the symmetry of the microstructure at large radius. Such modes are useful in fabricating robust tunable grating filters and we show that the Bragg grating is a useful diagnostic to measure their effective indices and intensity profiles.
Optical refractometer based on large-core air-clad photonic crystal fibers
Optics letters, 2011
A large-core air-clad photonic crystal fiber-based sensing structure is described, which is sensitive to refractive index. The sensing head is based on multimodal interference, and relies on a single-mode/large-core air-clad photonic crystal fiber (PCF)/single-mode fiber configuration. Using two distinct large-core air-clad PCF geometries-one for refractive index measurement and the other for temperature compensation, it was possible to implement a sensing head sensitive to refractive index changes in water as induced by temperature variations. The results indicated the high sensitivity of this sensing head to refractive index variations of water, and a resolution of 3:4 × 10 −5 refractive index units could be achieved.
Fiber Lasers XV: Technology and Systems, 2018
Ever extending applications of fiber lasers require energy efficient, high-power, small footprint and reliable fiber lasers and laser wavelength versatility. To meet these demands, next generation of active fibers for high-power fiber lasers is coming out that will eventually offer tailored spectroscopic properties, high robustness and reduced cooling requirements and improved efficiency through tailored pump absorption. We report on numerical modelling of the efficiency of the pump absorption in double clad active fibers with hexagonal shape of the inner cladding cross section and rare-earthdoped core. We analyze both the effect of different radii of the spool on which the fiber is coiled and different fiber twisting rates. Two different launching conditions were investigated: the Gaussian input pump beam and a speckle pattern that mimics the output of the pump laser diode pigtail. We have found that by asymmetric position of the rareearth-doped core we can significantly improve the pump absorption.
Calculations of air-guided modes in photonic crystal fibers using the multipole method
Optics Express, 2001
We demonstrate that a combination of multipole and Bloch methods is well suited for calculating the modes of air core photonic crystal fibers. This includes determining the reflective properties of the cladding, which is a prerequisite for the modal calculations. We demonstrate that in the presence of absorption, the modal losses can be substantially smaller than in the corresponding bulk medium.