352-Gbit/s single line rate THz wired transmission based on PS-4096QAM employing hollow-core fiber

We successfully demonstrate 32-Gbaud Probabilistically Shaped 4096-ary Quadrature Amplitude Modulation(PS-4096QAM)TeraHertz(THz)signal wired transmission at 325 GHz over the 1-m Hollow-Core Fiber(HCF)in a photon-assisted THz-wave communication system.By employing advanced Digital Signal Processing(DSP)and the PS technique,the 352-Gbit/s line rate(288-Gbit/s net rate)delivery with a net Spectral Efficiency(SE)of 9 bit/s/Hz is realized in the experiment,satisfying the 0.86-Normalized Generalized Mutual Information(NGMI)Low-Density Parity-Check(LDPC)threshold.

Broadband all-fiber optical phase modulator based on photo-thermal effect in a gas-filled hollow-core fiber

We report broadband all-fiber optical phase modulation based on the photo-thermal effect in a gas-filled hollow-core fiber.The phase modulation dynamics are studied by multi-physics simulation.A phase modulator is fabricated using a 5.6-cm-long anti-resonant hollow-core fiber with pure acetylene filling.It has a half-wave optical power of 289 mW at 100 kHz and an average insertion loss 0.6 dB over a broad wavelength range from 1450 to 1650 nm.The rise and fall time constants are 3.5 and 3.7μs,respectively,2–3 orders of magnitude better than the previously reported microfiber-based photo-thermal phase modulators.The gas-filled hollow-core waveguide configuration is promising for optical phase modulation from ultraviolet to mid-infrared which is challenging to achieve with solid optical fibers.

Nonlinear compression of picosecond chirped pulse from thin-disk amplifier system through a gas-filled hollow-core fiber

We theoretically study the nonlinear compression of a 20-rnJ, 1030-nm picosecond chirped pulse from the thin-disk amplifier in a krypton gas-filled hollow-core fiber. The chirp from the thin-disk amplifier system has little influence on the initial pulse, however, it shows an effect on the nonlinear compression in hollow-core fiber. We use a large diameter hollow waveguide to restrict undesirable nonlinear effects such as ionization; on the other hand, we employ suitable gas pressure and fiber length to promise enough spectral broadening; with 600-μm, 6-bar （1 bar = 105 Pa）, 1.8-m hollow fiber, we obtain 31.5-fs pulse. Moreover, we calculate and discuss the optimal fiber lengths and gas pressures with different initial durations induced by different grating compression angles for reaching a given bandwidth. These results are meaningful for a compression scheme from picoseconds to femtoseconds.

Picosecond pulses compression at 1053-nm center wavelength by using a gas-filled hollow-core fiber compressor

We theoretically study the nonlinear compression of picosecond pulses with 10-m J of input energy at the 1053-nm center wavelength by using a one-meter-long gas-filled hollow-core fiber（HCF） compressor and considering the third-order dispersion（TOD） effect. It is found that when the input pulse is about 1 ps/10 m J, it can be compressed down to less than20 fs with a high transmission efficiency. The gas for optimal compression is krypton gas which is filled in a HCF with a 400-μm inner diameter. When the input pulse duration is increased to 5 ps, it can also be compressed down to less than 100 fs efficiently under proper conditions. The results show that the TOD effect has little impact on picosecond pulse compression and the HCF compressor can be applied on compressing picosecond pulses efficiently with a high compression ratio, which will benefit the research of high-field laser physics.

Self-compression of 1.8-μm pulses in gas-filled hollow-core fibers

We numerically study the self-compression of the optical pulses centered at 1.8-μm in a hollow-core fiber （HCF） filled with argon. It is found that the pulse can be self-compressed to 2 optical cycles when the input pulse energy is 0.2-mJ and the gas pressure is 500-mbar （1 bar=10^5 Pa）. Inducing a proper positive chirp into the input pulse can lead to a shorter temporal duration after self-compression. These results will benefit the generation of energetic few-cycle mid-infrared pulses.

Femtosecond parabolic pulse nonlinear compression with gas-filled hollow-core fiber

We study theoretically the spectral intensity evolutions of the femtosecond Gaussian and parabolic pulses with different initial pulse energies and compare the nonlinear compressions of these pulses based on a meter-long hollow-core fiber filled with neon for different initial pulse durations. The pulses are first coupled into gas-filled hollow-core fiber for spectrum broadening, then compressed by the optimal chirp compensation. The parabolic pulse possesses a shorter pulse duration, larger peak power, and cleaner wings than Gaussian pulse. The properties are useful for compressing the pulses and thus generating the high-energy, short-duration pulses.

Generation of few-cycle radially-polarized infrared pulses in a gas-filled hollow-core fiber

We perform a numerical study for temporally compressing radially-polarized（RP） infrared pulses in a gas-filled hollow-core fiber（HCF）. The dynamic transmission and nonlinear compression of RP pulses centered at wavelengths of0.8 m, 1.8 m, 3.1 m, and 5.0 m in HCFs are simulated. By comparing the propagation of pulses with the same optical cycles and intensity, we find that under proper conditions these pulses can be compressed down to 2–3 cycles. In the transverse direction, the spatiotemporal beam profile ameliorates from 0.8-m to 1.8-m and 3.1-m pulses before the appearance of high-order dispersion. These results show an alternative method of scaling generation for delivering RP infrared pulses in gas-filled HCFs, which can obtain energetic few-cycle pulses, and will be beneficial for relevant researches in the infrared scope.

Spatiotemporal propagation dynamics of intense optical pulses in loosely confined gas-filled hollow-core fibers

We numerically study the propagation dynamics of intense optical pulses in gas-filled hollow-core fibers（HCFs）. The spatiotemporal dynamics of the pulses show a transition from tightly confined to loosely confined characteristics as the fiber core is increased, which manifests as a deterioration in the spatiotemporal uniformity of the beam. It is found that using the gas pressure gradient does not enhance the beam quality in large-core HCFs, while inducing a positive chirp in the pulse to lower the peak power can improve the beam quality. This indicates that the self-focusing effect in the HCFs is the main driving force for the propagation dynamics. It also suggests that pulses at longer wavelengths are more suitable for HCFs with large cores because of the lower critical power of self-focusing, which is justified by the numerical simulations. These results will benefit the generation of energetic few-cycle pulses in large-core HCFs.

Generation of few-cycle laser pulses:Comparison between atomic and molecular gases in a hollow-core fiber

We numerically study the pulse compression approaches based on atomic or molecular gases in a hollow-core fiber.From the perspective of self-phase modulation（SPM）, we give the extensive study of the SPM influence on a probe pulse with molecular phase modulation（MPM） effect. By comparing the two compression methods, we summarize their advantages and drawbacks to obtain the few-cycle pulses with micro- or millijoule energies. It is also shown that the double pump-probe approach can be used as a tunable dual-color source by adjusting the time delay between pump and probe pulses to proper values.

The Study on the Polycrystal Germanium Dioxide Hollow-core Fiber and Its Performances

A method of fabricating pure germanium dioxide hollow-core fibers has been introduced for the first time. The inner diameter of the fiber is φ0.8mm, with the transmission loss of 1.23dB/m at 10.6μm. The mechanism of transmitting CO2 laser by the fiber is analyzed. The transmitting performances are discussed and its application fields are envisaged.

Record 50.7-Tbit/s WDM coherent transmission in hollow-core fiber

Over the past half-century, the emergence of technologies such as erbium-doped fiber amplifier(EDFA), wavelength division multiplexing(WDM), coherent transmission and advanced digital signal processing(DSP) has led to an exponential increase in the transmission capacity of optical communication networks.

Highly efficient and stable coupling of kilowatt-level continuous wave laser into hollow-core fibers

Fiber gas lasers based on gas-filled hollow-core fibers(HCFs)perfectly combine the advantages of fiber lasers and gas lasers and have obtained fast development in the past years.However,stable and efficient coupling of high-power pump lasers into the HCFs is one of the key problems to be solved.In this paper,we study the coupling of high-power continuous wave fiber lasers into anti-resonant HCFs through an end-cap.By optimizing the splicing parameters,a maximum laser power of 1167 W was injected into the 1-m-long HCFs,and 1021W was obtained at the output end,giving a total transmission efficiency of〜87.5%.A more than 1 h test showed the stability of such a coupling method.Meanwhile,the laser beam quality was well maintained.This work opens new opportunities for stable and highly efficient coupling of high-power lasers into HCFs,which is significant for its applications in many other fields besides high-power fiber gas lasers,such as high-power laser delivering.

Low-threshold continuous operation of fiber gas Raman laser based on large-core anti-resonant hollow-core fiber

Continuous operation of fiber gas Raman lasing at the 1135 nm wavelength is experimentally demonstrated with an output power exceeding 26 W.Rotational stimulated Raman scattering(Rot-SRS)is generated in the hydrogen gas filled 50 m homemade anti-resonant hollow-core fiber(AR-HCF).A single-frequency fiber laser at the 1064 nm wavelength is used as the pump source,and a minimum threshold of 31.5 W is measured where the core diameter of AR-HCF reaches37μm.Up to 40.4%power conversion efficiency of forward Rot-SRS is achieved in the single-pass configuration,corresponding to a quantum efficiency of 43.1%.Over 1 W strong backward Rot-SRS is observed in the experiment,ultimately limiting the further increase of Rot-SRS generation in the forward direction.

Mid-infrared all-optical modulators based on an acetylene-filled hollow-core fiber

We report all-optical mid-infrared phase and intensity modulators based on the photo-thermal effect in an acetylene-filled anti-resonant hollow-core fiber.Optical absorption of the control beam promotes the gas molecules to a higher energy level,which induces localized heating through non-radiative relaxation and modulates the refractive index of the gas material and hence the accumulated phase of the signal beam propagating through the hollow-core fiber.By modulating the intensity of the control beam,the phase of the signal beam is modulated accordingly.By use of a 1.53μm near-infrared control beam,all-optical phase modulation up to 2.2πrad is experimentally demonstrated at the signal wavelength of 3.35μm.With the phase modulator placed in one arm of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer,intensity modulation with on-off ratio of 25 dB is achieved.The gas-filled hollow-core-fiber modulators could operate over an ultra-broad wavelength band from near-to mid-infrared and have promising application in mid-infrared photonic systems.

Recent advance in hollow-core fiber high-temperature and high-pressure sensing technology [Invited]

The pure-silica hollow-core fiber(HCF) has excellent thermostabilities that can benefit a lot of high-temperature sensing applications.The air-core microstructure of the HCF provides an inherent gas container, which can be a good candidate for gas or gas pressure sensing.This paper reviews our continuous efforts to design, fabricate, and characterize the hightemperature and high-pressure sensors with HCFs, aiming at improving the sensing performances such as dynamic range,sensitivity, and linearity.With the breakthrough advances in novel anti-resonant HCFs, sensing of high temperature and high pressure with HCFs will continuously progress and find increasing applications.

Towards all-fiber structure pulsed mid-infrared laser by gas-filled hollow-core fibers

We report here on a diode-pumped pulsed mid-infrared laser source based on gas-filled hollow-core fibers(HCFs)towards an all-fiber structure by the tapering method. The pump laser is coupled into an acetylene-filled HCF through a tapered single-mode fiber. By precisely tuning the wavelength of the diode to match different absorption lines of acetylene near 1.5 μm, mid-infrared emission around 3.1–3.2 μm is generated. With 2 m HCFs and3 mbar acetylene gas, a maximum average power of 130 m W is obtained with a laser slope efficiency of ~24%.This work provides a potential scheme for all-fiber mid-infrared fiber gas lasers.

Highly efficient Cherenkov radiation generation in the irregular point of hollow-core photonic crystal fiber

Highly efficient Cherenkov radiation （CR） is generated by the soliton self-frequency shift （SSFS） in the irregular point of a hollow-core photonic crystal fiber （HC-PCF） in our laboratory. The impacts of pump power and wavelength on the CR are investigated, and the corresponding nonlinear processes are discussed. When the average power of the 120 fs pump pulse increases from 500 mW to 700 mW, the Raman soliton shifts from 2210 nm to 2360 nm, the output power of the CR increases by 2.3 times, the maximum output power ratio of the CR at 539 nm to that of the residual pump is calculated to be 24.32：1, the width of the output optical spectrum at the visible wavelength broadens from 35 nm to 62 nm, and the conversion efficiency η of the CR in the experiment can be above 32%.

Pulse combination and compression in hollow-core fiber for few-cycle intense mid-infrared laser generation

The generation of high-peak-power,few-cycle mid-infrared(MIR)pulses using coherent beam combination and nonlinear pulse compression techniques simultaneously is demonstrated.The two pulses,with identical pulse energy of 2.8 mJ and pulse duration of 160 fs,are coherently combined at the input end of a krypton-filled hollow-core fiber(HCF),and then the bandwidth of the combined pulse is broadened to near an optical octave due to strong phase modulations,and the temporal width is compressed into a few-cycle regime.Finally,a 2.7 mJ,22.9 fs,20 Hz laser at 4μm can be obtained,and the pulse peak power is greatly enhanced compared with that of conventional single-channel optical parametric chirped pulse-amplification systems.Furthermore,the peak power generated from this system has the prospect of further scaling up through use of more channels of coherent combination,which can pave a way to generate higher peak power ultra-intense MIR pulses for strong-field physics.

An All-Fiber Gas Raman Light Source Based on a Hydrogen-Filled Hollow-Core Photonic Crystal Fiber Pumped with a Q-Switched Fiber Laser

A gas Raman light source based on a H2−filled hollow-core photonic-crystal-fiber cell with a Q-switched fiber laser followed by a fiber amplifier as the Raman pump source is demonstrated.The Stokes frequency-shift lasing line is observed at 1135.7 nm with the Q-switched pump pulses at 1064.7 nm.Our experimental results show that the generated Stokes pulse is much narrower than the pump pulse,and the generated Stokes pulse duration is increased with the single pulse energy for the same duration pump pulses.For the 125 ns pump pulses with a repetition rate of 5 kHz,the Raman threshold pump energy and the conversion efficiency at the Raman threshold are 2.13µJ and 9.82%.Moreover,by choosing narrower pump pulses,the Raman threshold pump energy may be reduced and the conversion efficiency may be improved.

Low-energy-threshold deep-ultraviolet generation in a small-mode-area hollow-core fiber

We demonstrate the generation of wavelength-tunable deep-ultraviolet pulses in a small-mode-area hollow-core fiber fabricated by tapering a nodeless tubular-type hollow-core fiber.Down-scaling of the cross-sectional geometry reduces the pump energy requirement for inducing sufficient nonlinear effects,presenting a unique opportunity for staging low-energy-threshold gas-based nonlinear optics.We report the onset of the ultraviolet light with the pump pulse energy as low as 125 nJ.Our numerical analysis shows that the frequency conversion arises due to soliton phase matching,and therefore shot-to-shot coherence of the ultraviolet emission is well-preserved.It offers a promising platform for a compact ultraviolet frequency comb source.