title: Raman-free nonlinear optical effects in high pressure gas-filled hollow core PCF.
abstract: The effective Kerr nonlinearity of hollow-core kagomé-style photonic crystal fiber (PCF) filled with argon gas increases to ~15% of that of bulk silica glass when the pressure is increased from 1 to 150 bar, while the zero dispersion wavelength shifts from 300 to 900 nm. The group velocity dispersion of the system is uniquely pressure-tunable over a wide range while avoiding Raman scattering-absent in noble gases-and having an extremely high optical damage threshold. As a result, detailed and well-controlled studies of nonlinear effects can be performed, in both normal and anomalous dispersion regimes, using only a fixed-frequency pump laser. For example, the absence of Raman scattering permits clean observation, at high powers, of the interaction between a modulational instability side-band and a soliton-created dispersive wave. Excellent agreement is obtained between numerical simulations and experimental results. The system has great potential for the realization of reconfigurable supercontinuum sources, wavelength convertors and short-pulse laser systems.
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light, Germany. mohiudeen.azhar@mpl.mpg.de
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Azhar
authors.forename: G K L
authors.initials: GK
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: N Y
authors.initials: NY
authors.lastname: Joly
authors.forename: P St J
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Russell
mesh_terms: D004867:Equipment Design; D019544:Equipment Failure Analysis; D005740:Gases / Q000737:chemistry*; D008027:Light; D017711:Nonlinear Dynamics; D016062:Porosity; D011312:Pressure; D012542:Scattering, Radiation; D013059:Spectrum Analysis, Raman / Q000295:instrumentation*
chemical_list: D005740:Gases