Optical fibers with periodic structures

Abstract

This thesis concerns some experimental and theoretical issues in fiber optics. In particular, properties and devices based on photonic crystal fibers (PCFs) are investigated.

The work can be grouped into three parts. In the first part we use sound to control light in PCFs. The lowest order flexural acoustic mode of various PCFs is excited using an acoustic horn. The acoustic wave acts as a traveling long-period grating. This is utilized to couple light from the lowest order to the first higher order optical modes of the PCFs. Factors affecting the acoustooptic coupling bandwidth are also investigated. In particular, the effect of axial variations in acoustooptic phase-mismatch coefficient are studied.

In the second part of the thesis we use an electric field to control transmission properties of PCFs. Tunable photonic bandgap guidance is obtained by filling the holes of an initially index-guiding PCF with a nematic liquid crystal and applying an electric field. The electric field introduces a polarization-dependent change of transmission properties above a certain threshold field. By turning the applied field on/off, an electrically tunable optical switch is demonstrated.

The third part consists of two theoretical works. In the first work, we use relativistic causality, i.e. that signals cannot propagate faster than the vacuum velocity of light, to show that Kramers-Kronig relations exist for waveguides, even when material absorption is negligible in the frequency range of interest. It turns out that evanescent modes enter into the Kramers-Kronig relations as an effective loss term. The Kramers-Kronig relations are particularly simple in weakly guiding waveguides as the evanescent modes of these waveguides can be approximated by the evanescent modes of free space. In the second work we investigate dispersion properties of planar Bragg waveguides with advanced cladding structures. It is pointed out that Bragg waveguides with chirped claddings do not give dispersion characteristics significantly different from Bragg waveguides with periodic claddings.