Open Access

In this paper, we present the first results regarding the on-line monitoring of gamma-ray exposure effects on a commercial multi-mode perfluorinated polymer optical fiber (PF-POF), type GigaPOF-50SR from Chromis Fiberoptics. Our focus was to evaluate on-line the radiation induced attenuation (RIA) over a wide spectral range (320 nm – 1700 nm), in order to assess the fiber’s radiation hardness and its possible use in radiation detection. An Ocean Optics QE65000 high sensitivity spectrometer and a StellarNet near-IR spectrometer were used to cover the spectral ranges 200 nm – 1μm and 900 nm – 1.6 μm, respectively. Electron paramagnetic resonance was used to monitor the recovery of the irradiation induced centers at room temperature. The study indicated that the optical fiber can be used as radiation monitor at low dose rates by measuring the attenuation in the UV, while higher dose rates irradiation can be observed by RIA monitoring at specific wavelengths in the visible spectral range.

The sensitivity of low loss perfluorinated polymer optical fiber (PF-POF) to gamma radiation is investigated for on line radiation monitoring purposes. The radiation induced attenuation (RIA) of a commercial PF-POF based on Cytop material is measured in the visible spectral region. The fiber RIA shows strong wavelength dependence with rapid increase towards the blue side of the spectrum. The wide range of radiation sensitivities is available via careful selection of appropriate monitoring wavelength. The accessible sensitivities span from 1.99 ± 0.01 dBm⁻¹/kGy measured at 890 nm to 140.9 ± 0.6 dBm⁻¹/kGy measured at 460 nm. The fairly high radiation sensitivity as well as its wide tunability makes the fiber a promising candidate for a broad range of applications.

In this paper, we present a systematic numerical study of a novel ultrafast nonlinear switching concept based on soliton self-trapping in dual-core (DC) photonic crystal fibre (PCF). The geometrical parameters of highly-nonlinear (HN) DC microstructure are optimized with regard to desired linear and nonlinear propagation characteristics. The comparable magnitude of fibre coupling length and soliton period is identified as a key condition for presented switching concept. The optimized DC PCF design is subjected to detailed nonlinear numerical study. Complex temporal-spectral-spatial transformations of 100 fs hyperbolic secant pulse at 1550 nm in the DC PCF are studied numerically employing a model based on coupled generalized nonlinear Schrödinger equations solved by a split-step Fourier method. For the optimized DC structure, mutual interplay of solitonic and coupling processes gives rise to nonlinear switching of self-trapped soliton. The output channel (fibre core) for the generated soliton can be controlled via the input pulse energy. For vertical polarization, the optimal soliton switching with extinction ratio contrast of 32.4 dB at 10.75 mm propagation distance is achieved. Even better switching contrast of 34.8 dB can be achieved for horizontal polarization at optimal propagation distance of 10.25 mm. Besides energy-controlled soliton self-trapping switching, the fibre supports also nonlinear polarization switching with soliton switching contrast as high as 37.4 dB. The proposed fibre holds a high application potential allowing efficient ultrafast switching of sub-nanojoule pulses at over-Tb/s data rates requiring only about 1 cm fibre length.

Solution doping of commercial polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) polymer optical fibers (POFs) is presented as a novel approach for preparation of custom cladding-doped POFs (CD-POFs). The presented method is based on a solution-mediated diffusion of dopant molecules into the fiber cladding upon soaking of POFs in a methanol-dopant solution. The method was tested on three different commercial POFs using Rhodamine B as a fluorescent dopant. The dynamics of the diffusion process was studied in order to optimize the doping procedure in terms of selection of the most suitable POF, doping time and conditions. Using the optimized procedure, longer segment of fluorescent CD-POF was prepared and its performance was characterized. Fiber’s potential for sensing and illumination applications was demonstrated and discussed. The proposed method represents a simple and cheap way for fabrication of custom, short to medium length CD-POFs with various dopants.

We demonstrate narrow band spectral intensity switching in dual-core photonic crystal fibers made of highly nonlinear glass under femtosecond excitation. The fibers expressed dual-core asymmetry, thus the slow and fast fiber cores were unambiguously distinguished according to their dispersion profiles. The asymmetry effect on the dual-core Propagation in anomalous dispersion region was studied both experimentally and numerically. The experimental study was carried out using femtosecond laser amplifier system providing tunable pulses in range of 1500 nm - 1800 nm. The obtained results unveiled, that it is possible to improve nonlinearly the coupling between the two waveguides by excitation of the fast fiber core. The results were obtained in regime of high-order soliton propagation and were verified numerically by the coupled generalized nonlinear Schrödinger equations model. The spectral analysis of the radiation transferred to the non-excited core revealed the role of effects such as third order dispersion, soliton compression and spectral dependence of the coupling efficiency. The simulation results provide reasonable agreement with the experimentally observed spectral evolutions in the both fiber cores. Under 1800 nm excitation, narrow band spectral intensity switching was registered with contrast of 23 dB at 10 mm fiber length by changing the excitation pulse energy in sub-nanojoule range.