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Hybrid Optical Fibers – An Innovative Platform for In‐Fiber Photonic Devices
The field of hybrid optical fibers is one of the most active research areas in current fiber optics and has the vision of integrating sophisticated materials inside fibers, which are not traditionally used in fiber optics. Novel in-fiber devices with unique properties have been developed, opening up new directions for fiber optics in fields of critical interest in modern research, such as biophotonics, environmental science, optoelectronics, metamaterials, remote sensing, medicine, or quantum optics. Here the recent progress in the field of hybrid optical fibers is reviewed from an application perspective, focusing on fiber-integrated devices enabled by including novel materials inside polymer and glass fibers. The topics discussed range from nanowire-based plasmonics and hyperlenses, to integrated semiconductor devices such as optoelectronic detectors, and intense light generation unlocked by highly nonlinear hybrid waveguides.
Diffusion and interface effects during preparation of all-solid microstructured fibers
All-solid microstructured optical fibers (MOF) allow the realization of very flexible optical waveguide designs. They are prepared by stacking of doped silica rods or canes in complex arrangements. Typical dopants in silica matrices are germanium and phosphorus to increase the refractive index (RI), or boron and fluorine to decrease the RI. However, the direct interface contact of stacking elements often causes interrelated chemical reactions or evaporation during thermal processing. The obtained fiber structures after the final drawing step thus tend to deviate from the targeted structure risking degrading their favored optical functionality. Dopant profiles and design parameters(e.g., the RI homogeneity of the cladding) are controlled by the combination of diffusion and equilibrium conditions of evaporation reactions. We show simulation results of diffusion and thermal dissociation in germanium and fluorine doped silica rod arrangements according to the monitored geometrical disturbances in stretched canes or drawn fibers. The paper indicates geometrical limits of dopant structures in sub-μm-level depending on the dopant concentration and the thermal conditions during the drawing process. The presented results thus enable an optimized planning of the preform parameters avoiding unwanted alterations in dopant concentration profiles or in design parameters encountered during the drawing process.
Side-view holographic endomicroscopy via a custom-terminated multimode fibre
Microendoscopes based on optical fibres have recently come to the fore as promising candidates allowing in-vivo observations of otherwise inaccessible biological structures in animal models. Despite being still in its infancy, imaging can now be performed at the tip of a single multimode fibre, by relying on powerful holographic methods for light control. Fibre based endoscopy is commonly performed en face, resulting in possible damage of the specimen owing to the direct contact between the distal end of the probe and target. On this ground, we designed an all-fibre probe with an engineered termination that reduces compression and damage to the tissue under investigation upon probe insertion. The geometry of the termination brings the field of view to a plane parallel to the fibre’s longitudinal direction, conveying the probe with off-axis imaging capabilities. We show that its focusing ability also benefits from a higher numerical aperture, resulting in imaging with increased spatial resolution. The effect of probe insertion was investigated inside a tissue phantom comprising fluorescent particles suspended in agarose gel, and a comparison was established between the novel side-view probe and the standard en face fibre probe. This new concept paves the way to significantly less invasive deep-tissue imaging.
Orders of magnitude loss reduction in photonic bandgap fibers by engineering the core surround
We demonstrate how to reduce the loss in photonic bandgap fibers by orders of magnitude by varying the radius of the corner strands in the core surround. As a fundamental working principle we find that changing the corner strand radius can lead to backscattering of light into the fiber core. Selecting an optimal corner strand radius can thus reduce the loss of the fundamental core mode in a specific wavelength range by almost two orders of magnitude when compared to an unmodified cladding structure. Using the optimal corner radius for each transmission window, we observe the low-loss behavior for the first and second bandgaps, with the losses in the second bandgap being even lower than that of the first one. Our approach of reducing the confinement loss is conceptually applicable to all kinds of photonic bandgap fibers including hollow core and all-glass fibers as well as on-chip light cages. Therefore, our concept paves the way to low-loss light guidance in such systems with substantially reduced fabrication complexity.
Arrays of regenerated fiber bragg gratings in non-hydrogen-loaded photosensitive fibers for high-temperature sensor networks
We report about the possibility of using regenerated fiber Bragg gratings generated in photosensitive fibers without applying hydrogen loading for high temperature sensor networks. We use a thermally induced regenerative process which leads to a secondary increase in grating reflectivity. This refractive index modification has shown to become more stable after the regeneration up to temperatures of 600 °C. With the use of an interferometric writing technique, it is possible also to generate arrays of regenerated fiber Bragg gratings for sensor networks. © 2009 by the authors.
Micro-structured fiber interferometer as sensitive temperature sensor
We report on a fast and sensitive temperature sensor using a micro-structured or photonic crystal fiber interferometer with a high germanium doped fiber core. The wavelength sensitivity for temperature variation was as high as δλ/δT= 78 pm/ C up to 500 C, which was 6 times more sensitive than the fiber Bragg grating temperature sensitivity of δλ/δT= 13 pm/ C at 1550 nm. The sensor device was investigated concerning the sensitivity characteristics and response time.
Thermal tuning of a fiber-integrated Fabry-Pérot cavity
Here, we present the thermal tuning capability of an alignment-free, fiber-integrated Fabry-Pérot cavity. The two mirrors are made of fiber Bragg gratings that can be individually temperature stabilized and tuned. We show the temperature tuning of the resonance wavelength of the cavity without any degradation of the finesse and the tuning of the individual stop bands of the fiber Bragg gratings. This not only permits for the cavity’s finesse to be optimized post-fabrication but also makes this cavity applicable as a narrowband filter with a FWHM spectral width of 0.07 ± 0.02 pm and a suppression of more than -15 dB that can be wavelength tuned. Further, in the field of quantum optics, where strong light-matter interactions are desirable, quantum emitters can be coupled to such a cavity and the cavity effect can be reversibly omitted and re-established. This is particularly useful when working with solid-state quantum emitters where such a reference measurement is often not possible once an emitter has been permanently deposited inside a cavity.
Raman imaging with a fiber-coupled multichannel spectrograph
Until now, spatially resolved Raman Spectroscopy has required to scan a sample under investigation in a time-consuming step-by-step procedure. Here, we present a technique that allows the capture of an entire Raman image with only one single exposure. The Raman scattering arising from the sample was collected with a fiber-coupled high-performance astronomy spectrograph. The probe head consisting of an array of 20 × 20 multimode fibers was linked to the camera port of a microscope. To demonstrate the high potential of this new concept, Raman images of reference samples were recorded. Entire chemical maps were received without the need for a scanning procedure.
Nanoscopic tip sensors fabricated by gas phase etching of optical glass fibers
Silica-based fiber tips are used in a variety of spectroscopic, micro- or nano-scopic optical sensor applications and photonic micro-devices. The miniaturization of optical sensor systems and the technical implementation using optical fibers can provide new sensor designs with improved properties and functionality for new applications. The selective-etching of specifically doped silica fibers is a promising method in order to form complex photonic micro structures at the end or within fibers such as tips and cavities in various shapes useful for the all-fiber sensor and imaging applications. In the present study, we investigated the preparation of geometrically predefined, nanoscaled fiber tips by taking advantage of the dopant concentration profiles of highly doped step-index fibers. For this purpose, a gas phase etching process using hydrofluoric acid (HF) vapor was applied. The shaping of the fiber tips was based on very different etching rates as a result of the doping characteristics of specific optical fibers. Technological studies on the influence of the etching gas atmosphere on the temporal tip shaping and the final geometry were performed using undoped and doped silica fibers. The influence of the doping characteristics was investigated in phosphorus-, germanium-, fluorine- and boron-doped glass fibers. Narrow exposed as well as protected internal fiber tips in various shapes and tip radiuses down to less than 15 nm were achieved and characterized geometrically and topologically. For investigations into surface plasmon resonance effects, the fiber tips were coated with nanometer-sized silver layers by means of vapour deposition and finally subjected to an annealing treatment.
2 MW peak power generation in fluorine co-doped Yb fiber prepared by powder-sinter technology
We report on the first, to the best of our knowledge, implementation of a fluorine co-doped large-mode-area REPUSIL fiber for high peak power amplification in an ultrashort-pulse master oscillator power amplifier. The core material of the investigated step-index fiber with high Yb-doping level, 52 µm core and high core-to-clad ratio of 1:4.2 was fabricated by means of the REPUSIL powder-sinter technology. The core numerical aperture was adjusted by fluorine codoping to 0.088. For achieving high beam quality and for ensuring a monolithic seed path, the LMA fiber is locally tapered. We demonstrate an Yb fiber amplifier with near-diffraction-limited beam quality of M2 = 1.3, which remains constant up to a peak power of 2 MW. This is a record for a tapered single core fiber. © 2020 Optical Society of America