Competing Four-Wave Mixing Processes in Dispersion Oscillating Telecom Fiber

Christophe Finot (1) , Julien Fatome (2) , Alexej A. Sysoliatin (3) , Alexey Fedorovich Kosolapov (3) , Stefan Wabnitz (4)

1 ICB - Laboratoire Interdisciplinaire Carnot de Bourgogne
2 SLCO
3 Fiber Optics Research Center
4 univesité de brescia

We experimentally study the dynamics of the generation of multiple sidebands by means of a quasi-phase-matched four-wave mixing process occurring in a dispersion oscillating, highly nonlinear optical fiber. The fiber under test is pumped by a ns microchip laser operating in the normal average group-velocity dispersion regime and in the telecom C band. We reveal that the growth of higher order sidebands is strongly influenced by the competition with cascade four-wave mixing between the pump and the first order quasi-phase matched sidebands. The properties of these competing four wave mixing processes are substantially affected when a partially coherent pump source is used, leading to a drastic reduction of the average power needed for sideband generation.

Domaines: Optique [physics.optics]

Christophe Finot, Julien Fatome, Alexej A. Sysoliatin, Alexey Fedorovich Kosolapov, Stefan Wabnitz. Competing Four-Wave Mixing Processes in Dispersion Oscillating Telecom Fiber. Optics Letters, 2013, 38 (24), pp.5361-5364. ⟨10.1364/OL.38.005361⟩. ⟨hal-00871601⟩