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We demonstrate a fiber-based optical vortex beam source operating in broadband or tunable mode in the spectral range of 1100–1400 nm. The vector vortices of the total angular momenta equal to +2, 0, and −2 are obtained by converting the respective linearly polarized (LP11) modes of the two-mode birefringent PANDA fiber with stress-applying elements by gradually twisting its output section. At the input end, the PANDA fiber is powered by broadband supercontinuum or tunable Raman solitons generated in the LP11 polarization modes of a birefringent microstructured fiber with a specially designed dispersion profile and coupled to the respective LP11 modes of the PANDA fiber. Two pulse lasers operating in different regimes (1 ns/1064 nm and 190 fs/1037 nm) were used as the pump to generate supercontinuum or tunable solitons directly in the LP11 modes of the microstructured fiber purely excited with a special Wollaston prism-based method. The high modal and polarization purities of the beams after successive transformations were experimentally confirmed. We also proved the vortex nature of the output beams using shearing interferometry.

We present a new method for the efficient modeling of the conversion of LP modes to vortex modes in gradually twisted highly birefringent fibers, employing the coupled-mode approach in helicoidal coordinates. The method is applicable to a class of highly birefringent fibers with cylindrical cores and stress-applying elements. We analyzed the effects of refractive index contrast, birefringence, and twist rate profile on the quality of the converted vortex beams, including the intensity and polarization distributions, as well as on the crosstalk between different eigenmodes at the output of the twisted fibers. The obtained results prove the possibility of a broadband quasi-adiabatic generation of vortex beams of high purity in gradually twisted highly birefringent fibers a few centimeters long and provide hints for optimization of the conversion process.

We study the effect of the core ellipticity and core-induced thermal stress on the conversion of LP11 modes to vortex modes in gradually twisted highly birefringent PANDA fibers using an improved perturbation-based modeling method. We show that these two technologically unavoidable factors have a significant impact on the conversion process, which manifests itself in shortening the conversion length, altering the assignment between the input LP11 modes and output vortex modes, and modifying the vortex mode structure. In particular, we demonstrate that for certain fiber geometries, it is possible to obtain output vortex modes with parallel and antiparallel spins and orbital angular momenta. The simulation results obtained using the modified method are in good agreement with recently published experimental data. Furthermore, the proposed method provides reliable guidelines for choosing fiber parameters that ensure a short conversion length and the desired polarization structure of the output vortex modes.

We report a detailed study of vector modulation instability (VMI) in highly birefringent fibers with circularly polarized modes in the normal dispersion regime. We show that because of suppression of coherent terms, the VMI in circularly birefringent fibers is governed by one set of coupled-mode nonlinear Schrödinger equations regardless of the fiber birefringence. In consequence, the VMI sidebands are polarized linearly and orthogonally to the pump up to the birefringence level of 10-5, similarly like in isotropic fibers. For greater birefringence the polarization states of the sidebands become elliptical with opposite handedness while the azimuth angle deviates from orthogonality to the pump. We also point on the dependence of the critical power beyond which the VMI cannot exist upon ellipticity angle θ of the eigenmodes. We show that the critical power gradually increases with the ellipticity angle and for θ > 17.6° the VMI gain is not limited, in contrast to linearly birefringent fibers. Our findings were confirmed experimentally by observation of the isotropic-like VMI in the spun side-hole fiber with nearly circularly polarized eigenmodes, in spite of relatively high birefringence of the order of 2 × 10-6.

We report on a new phenomenon of light guidance in a fiber core created by an arrangement of holes making a partially open ring. In such structure there is no complete refractive index barrier to confine the light and therefore it cannot guide light if untwisted. However, if the open ring of holes is shifted off the symmetry axis of the twisted fiber then the mode confinement and low loss propagation is possible due to purely geometrical effect related to the increase in the optical path of light following the helical route. Properties of such structures, including confinement loss, modal field distribution, birefringence of fundamental modes were investigated both numerically and experimentally. We also studied the effect of bending, which leads to periodic modulation of the propagation characteristics of the twisted fiber. Furthermore, we demonstrate a possibility of displacement measurements based on bend-induced loss using some of the fabricated fibers, in which the sensitivity to bend is controlled by a twist rate and core structure.

We present an effective method for free-space selective excitation of different combinations of LP

We experimentally demonstrate the possibility of quasi-adiabatic conversion of

We present a novel method for determining chromatic dispersion profile from a broadband spectral interferogram obtained by using a white-light interferometry technique. The proposed method is based on direct calculations of a second derivative of the registered spectral intensity at extremal points, which in result gives a spectral phase difference derivative further used for dispersion determining. Although the method is best suited for processing interferograms with modulation around a zero level (zero-mean value interferograms) and slowly changing envelope, the conducted numerical tests show that it is highly tolerable to different types of perturbations of the input interference signal. The proposed method can be applied both to spectral interferograms with monotonically changing phase difference as well as containing stationary phase difference points. We demonstrate the effectiveness and accuracy of the proposed method in measurements of chromatic dispersion of commercially available samples like the BK7 glass plate and the Corning SMF-28 optical fiber.

In this study, we show that transformation optics formalism can be used to rigorously model a wide range of twisted anisotropic fibers, which could only be analyzed using perturbative methods. If the material anisotropy of fibers has an intrinsic origin or is induced by axially or helically symmetric physical factors, then they can be transformed into a form usable in rigorous two-dimensional (2D) modeling. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach in 2D modeling of the propagation characteristics of first-order eigenmodes in twisted and spun fibers with high linear birefringence. We derive the equivalent electric permittivity tensors for such fibers in the helical coordinate system and study the evolution of the first-order modes toward vortex modes with increasing twist rate. The obtained results confirm that the proposed method can reveal phenomena that cannot be predicted by analytical approaches.

We report a white-light interferometric method for broad-band measurements of chromatic dispersion of higher-order-modes (HOMs) selectively excited in an optical fiber using a spatial light modulator (SLM). To excite a specific mode we appropriately modulated a phase distribution across a supercontinuum input beam with the SLM used in reflective configuration. For this purpose, the SLM surface was divided into azimuthally and radially distributed sectors which introduce the phase shifts equal alternately to 0 or π radians, similarly as in the targeted mode. The voltage applied to respective sectors of the SLM was corrected versus wavelength to ensure broad-band dispersion measurements for the required mode. For a given voltage setting, the dispersion measurements were possible without any correction over 250 nm in the visible and over even greater range in the infrared. We demonstrate feasibility of the proposed approach in the measurements of chromatic dispersion for all modes supported by Corning SMF-28e, i.e., LP01, LP11, LP21, LP02, and LP31. The measurements were conducted in the spectral range from 450 nm up to the cut-off wavelengths of respective higher order modes and up to 1600 nm for the fundamental mode.

Helical core fibers (HCFs) suffer from low coupling efficiency and unavoidable excitation of higher order modes below the cutoff wavelength because of a core tilt with respect to the symmetry axis of the cladding. We propose an effective way of increasing the coupling efficiency to a HCF by untwisting its beginning section in a hydrogen flame. The proposed solution provides also a control over the excitation of higher order modes in HCFs and can be applied in splicing as well as in a free-space launching configuration. We experimentally demonstrate that by using the proposed method, the coupling efficiency between a SMF-28 and HCF can be increased to the level reachable for straight fibers, which is limited only by a modal fields mismatch. We also present detailed numerical and analytical studies of the coupling efficiency between a HCF and SMF versus the pitch distance in the partially untwisted input section of the HCF, which takes into account fundamental and higher-order modes.

We report on a new type of long-period-grating generated in a helical core fiber by bending. The grating arises from bent-induced cosinusoidal modulation of an optical path of the mode guided in the helical core with a period equal to the helix pitch. It induces multiple resonant couplings between the fundamental modes guided in the central core and the helical side-core.

We report on a new type of long-period-grating generated in a helical core fiber by bending. The grating arises from bend-induced modulation of an equivalent refractive index in the helical core with a period equal to the helix pitch. We experimentally demonstrate that such grating induces multiple resonant couplings between the fundamental modes guided in the central core and the helical side-core. We have also shown that by varying a direction of bending, one can generate the phase shifted grating. The experimental results are supported by numerical simulations based on the coupled mode equations.

A user-friendly fibre-coupled single-photon source operating at telecom wavelengths is a key component of photonic quantum networks providing long-haul ultra-secure data exchange. To take full advantage of quantum-mechanical data protection and to maximize the transmission rate and distance, a true quantum source providing single-photons on demand is highly desirable. We tackle this great challenge by developing a ready to use semiconductor quantum dot (QD)-based device that launches single photons at a wavelength of 1.3 um directly into a single-mode optical fibre. In our approach the QD is deterministically integrated into a nanophotonic structure to ensure efficient on-chip coupling into a fibre. The whole arrangement is integrated into a 19" compatible housing to enable stand-alone operation by cooling via a compact Stirling cryocooler. The realized source delivers single photons with multiphoton events probability as low as 0.15 and single-photon emission rate up to 73 kHz into a standard telecom single-mode fibre., Comment: 20 pages, 3 figures

We demonstrate for the first time a fiber-optic surface plasmon resonance sensor employing the interrogation method based on spectral interferometric measurements of the phase shift between fiber polarization modes. The sensor was fabricated on a specially designed birefringent D-shape fiber made of silica glass, which exhibits modal birefringence of the order of 10−5 and allows for direct deposition of a metal layer in the vicinity of the core. The sensor characteristics measured using the spectral interferometry method were compared with the reference results obtained using the conventional spectral transmission method. The two measuring techniques show similar sensitivity of 2700 nm/RIU for the refractive index of external medium equal to 1.386, however, the detection accuracy of the interferometric method is up to 3 times better.

We experimentally demonstrate the possibility of quasi-adiabatic conversion of L P 11 modes to vortex modes in a twisted highly birefringent fiber with a gradually increasing twist rate. Based on the value of the effective indices, the L P 11 modes are selectively converted to right- and left-handed circularly polarized vortex modes H E 21 with a total angular momentum of ± 2 and to quasi- T E 01 / T M 01 modes with a total angular momentum of 0. Since the proposed conversion method has a purely topological origin, it is broadband in nature, in contrast to the methods based on resonant effects.

We present an effective method for direct fiber coupling of a quantum dot (QD) that is deterministically incorporated into a cylindrical mesa. For precise positioning of the fiber with respect to the QD-mesa, we use a scanning procedure relying on interference of light reflected back from the fiber end-face and the top surface of the mesa, applicable for both single-mode and multi-mode fibers. The central part of the fiber end-face is etched to control the required distance between the top surface of the mesa and the fiber core. Emission around 1260 nm from a fiber-coupled InGaAs/GaAs QD is demonstrated and its stability is proven over multiple cooling cycles. Moreover, a single photon character of emission from such system for a line emitting above 1200 nm is proven experimentally by photon autocorrelation measurements with an obtained value of the second order correlation function at zero time-delay well below 0.5.

We report on experimental studies of polarimetric sensitivity to torsion and temperature in a series of spun highly birefringent side-hole fibers with spin pitches ranging from 5 to 200 mm. The polarimetric sensitivities to torsion and temperature were measured by monitoring a displacement of the spectral interference fringes arising in the output signal because of interference of ellipticaly polarized modes. The experimental results show that the sensitivity to torsion normalized to the fringe width in the spun highly birefringent fibers increases asymptotically with the twist rate to the value of 1/π rad-1 . In contrast to the torsional sensitivity, the temperature sensitivity decays asymptotically to zero with increasing fiber twist rate. Therefore, the spun fibers with short spin pitches are especially well suited for torsion measurements because the torsional sensitivity is enhanced in such fibers while at the same time the cross-sensitivity to temperature is reduced.

Publisher’s Note: This conference presentation, originally published on 14 May, 2019, was withdrawn on 19 May, 2019 per author request.

We show that the spectral interferometry method and the lateral point-force method used up to now to measure spectral dependence of the group and the phase modal birefringence in highly birefringent fibers with linearly polarized eigenmodes, can be after some modifications extended for the class of spun highly birefringent fibers with elliptically polarized modes. By combining the two methods, it is possible to determine spectral dependence of the group and phase elliptical birefringence in spun highly birefringent fibers. Moreover, if the fiber spin pitch is independently measured, the spectral dependence of ellipticity angle of polarization eigenmodes as well as the built-in linear phase and group birefringence, can be also obtained using the analytical relations between the parameters of spun and non-spun fibers. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach in spectral measurements (700-1600 nm) of the spun side-hole and microstructured highly birefringent fibers with different birefringence dispersion and spin pitches ranging from 4.1 to 200 mm.

We present a novel method for determining a spectral phase derivative from a single spectral interferogram obtained by using a white-light interferometry technique, which is further used for calculation of chromatic dispersion profile. The method is based on direct calculations of a second derivative of the registered spectral intensity at extremal points. We explain theoretical background of the method, discuss its limitations and evaluate an accuracy by numerical simulations. Additionally, we validate the proposed method in dispersion measurements of the BK7 glass plate and the SMF-28 fiber.

We propose an improvement of the interferometric method used up to now to measure the chromatic dispersion in single mode optical fibers, which enables dispersion measurements in higher-order modes over a wide spectral range. To selectively excite a specific mode, a spatial light modulator was used in the reflective configuration to generate an appropriate phase distribution across an input supercontinuum beam. We demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed approach using chromatic dispersion measurements of the six lowest order spatial modes supported by an optical fiber in the spectral range from 450 to 1600 nm. Moreover, we present the results of numerical simulations that confirm sufficient selectivity of higher-order mode excitation.

We present an alignment procedure which allows for precise gluing of a structure with an optically pumped quantum emitter to the end face of zirconia ferrule with a specially fabricated high numerical aperture single-mode fiber. The proposed method is an important step towards building a single-photon source based on an InGaAs quantum dot emitting in 1.3 μm range and located deterministically in a microlens fabricated by in-situ electron beam lithography and plasma etching to improve the photon extraction efficiency. Since single QDs are very dim at room temperature which hinders QD-fiber adjustment by maximizing the collected photoluminescence signal, the developed method uses light back-reflected from the top surface of the sample with microlens as a feedback signal. Using this approach, we were able to position the high-NA fiber over the center of the microlens with an accuracy of about 150 nm in a lateral direction and 50 nm in a vertical direction. The alignment accuracy was confirmed by following the room temperature emission from quantum wells embedded in a reference microlens. We also present initial low temperature tests of the coupling system mounted in a compact and portable Stirling cryocooler.

We provide a detailed explanation of the effect of coupling in helical microstructured optical fibers (MOFs) based on decomposition of core and cladding modes into multiple angular harmonics, each carrying integer orbital angular momentum and spin. The obtained results show that in twisted hexagonal MOFs, the fundamental mode characterized by spin σ may couple only to the cladding modes composed of harmonics carrying the total angular momentum J=6K+σ, where K is an integer number. Strongest couplings are observed to the cladding modes composed primarily of the harmonics with the same spin as the fundamental mode. However, there is also a second type of coupling to the modes composed primarily of the harmonics with opposite spin, which we identify for the first time in case of twisted MOFs. These couplings result in polarization dependent narrow maxima in loss characteristics of the fundamental modes. Furthermore, we explain how the harmonic of opposite spins influence the ellipticity angle distribution in the cladding modes.

We have studied the effect of symmetry on coupling between core and cladding modes in helical microstructured fibers, which gives rise to resonant loss peaks observed in the fiber transmission spectra. We demonstrate that the selection rules for orbital and spin angular momenta of coupled modes, proposed first for twisted conventional fibers, are universal characteristics and correctly identify the coupled cladding modes in helical microstructured optical fibers (MOFs). Moreover, we show for the first time (to our knowledge) the effect of coupling between modes of opposite polarization handedness in twisted MOFs.

We present a comprehensive study of an in-line Mach-Zehnder intermodal interferometer fabricated in a boron-doped two-mode highly birefringent microstructured fiber. We observed different interference signals at the output of the interferometer, related to the intermodal interference of the fundamental and the first order modes of the orthogonal polarizations and a beating of the polarimetric signal related to the difference in the group modal birefringence between the fundamental and the first order modes, respectively. The proposed interferometer was tested for measurements of hydrostatic pressure and temperature for different alignments of the input polarizer with no analyzer at the output. The sensitivities to hydrostatic pressure of the intermodal interference signals for x- and y-polarizations had an opposite sign and were equal to 0.229 nm/MPa and −0.179 nm/MPa, respectively, while the temperature sensitivities for both polarizations were similar and equal 0.020 nm/°C and 0.019 nm/°C. In the case of pressure, for the simultaneous excitation of both polarization modes, we observed a displacement of intermodal fringes with a sensitivity depending on the azimuth of the input polarization state, as well as on the displacement of their envelope with a sensitivity of 2.14 nm/MPa, accompanied by a change in the fringes visibility. Such properties of the proposed interferometer allow for convenient adjustments to the pressure sensitivity of the intermodal fringes and possible applications for the simultaneous interrogation of temperature and pressure.

The possibility of using polymer fiber as a refractive index sensor is presented. The sensor is based on a Fabry-Perot interferometer formed at the tip of the polymer fiber. The interference is granted due to reflections between a fiber Bragg grating and the fiber end-face. The sensor was characterized to refractive index changes at constant temperature using a fast Fourier transform analysis of the interference signal. A sensitivity of −1.94 RIU−1 was achieved with a resolution of 1 × 10−4 RIU and a cross sensitivity to temperature of 1× 10−4 RIU/T.

For the first time to our knowledge, we demonstrate a coherent supercontinuum in silica fibers reaching 2.2 µm in a long wavelength range. The process of supercontinuum generation was studied experimentally and numerically in two microstructured fibers with a germanium doped core, having flat all-normal chromatic dispersion optimized for pumping at 1.55 µm. The fibers were pumped with two pulse lasers operating at 1.56 µm with different pulse duration times equal respectively to 23 fs and 460 fs. The experimental results are in a good agreement with the simulations conducted by solving the generalized nonlinear Schrodinger equation with the split-step Fourier method. The simulations also confirmed high coherence of the generated spectra and revealed that their long wavelength edge (2.2 µm) is related to OH contamination. Therefore, improving the fibers purity will result in further up-shift of the long wavelength spectra limit.

The use of a polymer fiber as a refractive index sensor is proposed. A fiber Bragg grating is inscribed near the fiber tip and the fiber is cut shorter thus creating a Fabry-Perot cavity. The reflections between the fiber Bragg grating and the fiber end-face create a Fabry-Perot interferometer. The sensor was characterized to refractive index changes at constant temperature and to temperature at constant refractive index using a fast Fourier transform analysis of the interference signal. The sensor revealed a sensitivity of − 1 . 94 RIU − 1 with a resolution of 1 × 10 − 3 RIU and low sensitivity to temperature, with a cross sensitivity to temperature of 3 . 6 × 10 − 4 RIU / °C .

International audience; We analyzed for the first time the effect of variations in the number of air hole rings and the filling factor of twisted microstructured optical fibers on the resonant couplings between fundamental and cladding modes. Rigorous numerical simulations show that these parameters can be used to control the spectral width of the resonance peaks, resonance loss, and relative strength of polarization effects. Furthermore, the number of air hole rings has a decisive impact on the number of twist-induced resonances and their wavelength range.

We experimentally characterized a birefringent side-hole microstructured fiber in the visible wavelength region. The spectral dependence of the group and phase modal birefringence was measured using the methods of spectral interferometry. The phase modal birefringence of the investigated fiber increases with wavelength, but its positive sign is opposite to the sign of the group modal birefringence. We also measured the sensing characteristics of the fiber using a method of tandem spectral interferometry. Spectral interferograms corresponding to different values of a physical parameter were processed to retrieve the spectral phase functions and to determine the spectral dependence of polarimetric sensitivity to strain, temperature and hydrostatic pressure. A negative sign of the polarimetric sensitivity was deduced from the simulation results utilizing the known modal birefringence dispersion of the fiber. Our experimental results show that the investigated fiber has a very high polarimetric sensitivity to hydrostatic pressure, reaching –200 rad x MPa–1 x m–1 at 750 nm. Web of Science 13 9 11438 11424

We present a PMMA birefringent fiber with enhanced polarimetric sensitivity to hydrostatic pressure, obtained by enlarging selected holes in the microstructured cladding. The fiber shows a linear response to pressure with small hysteresis in the pressure range up to 8.5 MPa and the sensitivity of 48 ${\rm rad}/{\rm MPa}\cdot{\rm m}$ at 600 nm. The average temperature sensitivity measured in the range 22–40 $^{\circ}{\rm C}$ is 1 ${\rm rad}/{\rm K}\cdot{\rm m}$ at 600 nm. The fiber, however, shows significant hysteresis increasing with the temperature range. We also present the results of numerical simulations of the birefringence and the sensitivity to pressure. The contribution of stress and deformation effects to the overall pressure sensitivity in the investigated PMMA fiber and the silica fiber of the same geometry is compared. This allows us to explain different signs of pressure sensitivity observed in silica and the PMMA fibers.

We report on sensing characteristics of a long period grating fabricated in polymer microstructured fiber using transverse periodic loading combined with fiber heating. The grating is characterized for strain and hydrostatic pressure sensitivity and shows linear response to both parameters with sensitivity coefficients equal, respectively, -1.39nnm/mstrain and 2.29 nm/MPa. We also measure the variation of the resonance depth induced by both parameters and study the temperature response of the grating.

Using transformation optics formalism, we numerically analyzed the effect of resonant couplings between core and cladding modes in a helical core fiber with large core offset. Our study revealed much richer spectrum of resonant couplings than predicted by perturbative methods in fibers with small core offsets. Moreover, we demonstrated that the resonant couplings to lower order cladding modes predicted by perturbative methods are in fact prohibited for larger core offsets. Finally, we demonstrated the existence of spectrally broad polarization sensitive couplings to the cladding modes suggesting that helical core fibers with large core offsets may be used as broadband circular polarizers.

In this work, we demonstrate the possibility of fabricating short-length long-period gratings and rocking filters in highly birefringent Photonic Crystal Fiber using a CO 2 laser. In our experiments both kinds of gratings were made in the same Boron doped highly birefringent PCF using similar exposure parameters. We also present the sensing capabilities of both fabricated gratings to temperature, strain and hydrostatic pressure by interrogation of the wavelength shifts at different resonances.

We report on low-loss patch cords composed of a highly reproducible low-loss fusion splicing of photonic crystal fibers (PCFs) with a standard single mode fiber (SMF). Distinct from other papers in this area we report on the results for different types of PCFs, including LMA fibers with similar to a SMF core size and a mode field diameter (MFD), as well as polarization maintaining (PM) Bow-Tie PCF with an elliptical GeO(2) doped core and also a suspended-core (SC) PCF with a tiny core. We show that all studied splices between SMF and PCFs exhibit dispersive and non-reciprocal, in view of a light propagation direction, transmission losses. Defined as a larger decrease of a transmitted optical power comparing both propagation directions, achieved splicing losses, are equal to 0.46 +/- 0.03 dB, 0.34 +/- 0.01 dB, 0.67 +/- 0.17 dB and 3.09 +/- 0.366 dB at 1550 nm for LMA8, LMA10, Bow-Tie PCF and SC PCFs, respectively. Moreover, additionally to developed low-loss splicing, we report on low-loss patch cords for all mentioned above PCFs spliced on both ends with SMF pigtails ended with FC/APC connectors achieving the total losses at 1550 nm equal to 1.07 +/- 0.07 dB for LMA8, 0.72 +/- 0.20 dB for LMA10, 1.30 +/- 0.06 dB for Bow-Tie PCF, and 9.36 +/- 0.20 dB for SC PCF.

We show that in twisted microstructured optical fibers (MOFs) the coupling between the core and cladding modes can be obtained for helix pitch much greater than previously considered. We provide an analytical model describing scaling properties of the twisted MOFs, which relates coupling conditions to dimensionless ratios between the wavelength, the lattice pitch and the helix pitch of the twisted fiber. Furthermore, we verify our model using a rigorous numerical method based on the transformation optics formalism and study its limitations. The obtained results show that for appropriately designed twisted MOFs, distinct, high loss resonance peaks can be obtained in a broad wavelength range already for the fiber with 9 mm helix pitch, thus allowing for fabrication of coupling based devices using a less demanding method involving preform spinning.