title: Ultrafast wavelength conversion via cross-phase modulation in hydrogenated amorphous silicon optical fibers.
abstract: We present a characterization of the spectral modulation and wavelength shifting induced via cross-phase modulation (XPM) in a hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) core optical fiber. Pump-probe experiments using picosecond and femtosecond signal pulses are shown to be in good agreement with numerical simulations of the coupled nonlinear propagation equations. The large 10nm red-shifts obtained with the femtosecond probe pulses are attributed to the high Kerr nonlinearity of the a-Si:H material. Extinction ratios as high as 12 dB are measured for the conversion process at telecommunications wavelengths, indicating the potential for high-speed nonlinear optical control in a-Si:H fibers and waveguides.
authors.affiliation: Optoelectronics Research Centre, University of Southampton, Southampton, UK.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mehta
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Healy
authors.forename: T D
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Day
authors.forename: J V
authors.initials: JV
authors.lastname: Badding
authors.forename: A C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Peacock
mesh_terms: D017076:Computer-Aided Design; D004867:Equipment Design; D006801:Humans; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D055100:Optical Fibers; D017785:Photons; D012031:Refractometry / Q000295:instrumentation*; D012542:Scattering, Radiation; D012825:Silicon / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D012825:Silicon