Study and Analysis of Photonic Crystal Fiber for Broadband Laser Source Design

Abstract

Photonic Crystal Fiber (PCF) has been a topic of extensive research in the field of nonlinear fiber optics. It is due to its combination of linear and nonlinear properties which ultimately results in the phenomenon having various types of applications. One of the phenomena is supercontinuum generation that has been extensively studied numerically and experimentally over the last few decades as it has important applications in the field of medical imaging and sensing. In this paper, we numerically analysed and studied PCF of hexagonal core with various parameters and propose our novel ‘Star in Hexagon’ design as a good candidate for the broadband supercontinuum generation and hence a broadband laser source. We numerically pumped a long 10 mm PCF of this kind at 3.1 um wavelength with a pulse having a power of 4000 W and a temporal width of 50 fs. A broadband supercontinuum ranging from 1.7 um to 18 um was obtained. The generated spectrum is quite well in the mid-infrared region. Hence it can be utilised for Mid – Infrared (MIR) applications.