Abstract
Coherent access can be defined as the ability to generate arbitrarily complex optical field anywhere even within the disjoint spectral bands and recover (demodulate) information encoded using phase, amplitude or quantum state. Parametric process offers inherently coherent means for single- or multiple-band signal manipulation. Phase- matched parametric efficiency critically depends on pump power, pump-signal interaction length and material nonlinearity. Unfortunately, neither pump powers nor interaction lengths can be scaled by conventional rules applicable to pulsed or highly resonant parametric devices. Format transparency, required from the universal band translator, dictates operation in CW regime, thus limiting the available pump power to W-scale. Furthermore, the pump-signal interaction length is limited by choice of the material platform. Crystalline materials, while highly nonlinear, can be practically engineered to a cm-scale, demanding complex phase-matching techniques during the fabrication process. In contrast, high confinement fiber (HCF) combines large interaction lengths and elevated nonlinearities. HCF platform offers a) pump-signal interaction lengths that can be scaled up to km scale, b) an effective nonlinear coefficient that exceeds that of conventional fiber by up to two orders of magnitude, c) practical means for precise dispersion (phase-matching) control, d) very high damage threshold, e) low coupling and background loss and f) compact, athermal packaging.
© 2006 Optical Society of America
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