Design of supercontinuum generating photonic crystal fiber at 1.06, 1.31 and 1.55 µm wavelengths for medical imaging and optical transmission systems

Abstract

We propose broad supercontinuum spectrum generating highly nonlinear photonic crystal fiber (HN-PCF) which can be used in ultrahighresolution optical coherence tomography and optical transmission systems. Using full vector finite difference method, we investigated the different properties of HN-PCF. Broadband supercontinuum spectrum is numerically calculated by using nonlinear Schrödinger equation. Investigation showed that it is possible to obtain longitudinal resolution in a biological tissue of 1.3 μm, 1.2 μm and 1.1 μm by using picosecond continuum light at center wavelengths of 1.06 μm, 1.31 μm and 1.55 μm, respectively.

Near Infrared Supercontinuum Generation in Silica Based Photonic Crystal Fiber

“…Comparison is also made between the proposed HN-PCF, particularly at the centre wavelength values of 1.0 µm, 1.30 µm and 1.55 µm, and other fibers available in the literature [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26] in terms of coherent power. This comparison is depicted in Table 3, showing fabricated fiber materials, center wavelength and coherent powers of the different optical fibers considered.…”

“…Different designs of femtosecond (fs), picosecend and nanosecond pulse laser sources are proposed and consequently, investigated in references [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25]. In [10], the authors investigate the performance of femtosecond-laser pulses in neodymium-doped yttrium aluminium garnet (Nd:YAG) crystals and report that output power of around 1.3 W at around 1.0 µm center wavelength is achievable from an 2.25 W launched pump power.…”

“…Designs for HN-PCF for applications in OCT and telecommunication (i.e., wavelength between 1.0 to 1.7 µm) are presented in [24][25][26], shown to be capable of producing supercontinuum (SC) spectrum using picosecond pulses. In [24], maximum launched input peak powers of 50.0 W, 14.0 W and 45.0 W at center wavelengths of 1.06 µm, 1.31 µm, and 1.55 µm, respectively, are demonstrated whilst incident pulse input powers of 43.0 W, 8.0 W and 40.0 W, at center wavelength of 1.06 µm, 1.31 µm and 1.55 µm, respectively, are demonstrated in [25]. Supercontinuum spectra at centre wavelengths of 1.3 µm and 1.65 µm are generated in [26] with input peak power of 1.38 kW.…”

“…Supercontinuum spectra at centre wavelengths of 1.3 µm and 1.65 µm are generated in [26] with input peak power of 1.38 kW. Designs in [24][25][26] utilise silicon dioxide as the core of their HN-PCFs.…”

“…The exhibited low-power SC spectrum may not be sufficient for some SC applications. Most of the designs, with the exception of the designs in [24][25][26], also utilise doped core fiber structures, which are relatively difficult to fabricate for mass production of the materials. Furthermore, it needs to be noted that femtosecond pulse laser-based SC sources has a relatively high implementation cost as compared to other pulse laser sources.…”