Modeling of octave-spanning Kerr frequency combs using a generalized mean-field Lugiato-Lefever model

A generalized Lugiato-Lefever equation is numerically solved with a Newton-Raphson method to model Kerr frequency combs. We obtain excellent agreement with past experiments, even for an octave-spanning comb. Simulations are much faster than with any other technique despite including more modes than ever before. Our study reveals that Kerr combs are associated with temporal cavity solitons and dispersive waves, and opens up new avenues for the understanding of Kerr comb formation.Comment: 3 pages, 3 figures. Submitted to Optics Letters on 31 October 2012, accepted with minor/optional revisions. This version is the revised manuscrip

Subwavelength-diameter optical fibers for Brillouin scattering

International audienceBy confining light into subwavelength-diameter tapered optical fibers, we demonstrated a new type of Brillouin light scattering from surface and hybrid acoustic waves. This could be used to develop new optical sensors that are innovative and highly sensitive

Cascaded Raman slow light and optical spatial solitons in Kerr media

International audienceWe provide a complete experimental and numerical investigation of nonlinear beam propagation in a carbon disulfide liquid-filled Kerr slab waveguide using picosecond pulsed light. A first spatial analysis shows the generation of a multicolor solitary wave through the combined effects of cascaded Raman scattering and crossphase modulation. The impact of temporal effects on this self-trapped optical beam is further studied through a spatiotemporal analysis. It is shown in particular how cascaded Raman slow light induces optical delays between the solitonic components which prevents higher-order spatial soliton and provides a remarkable beam stability. Experimental observations are in very good agreement with numerical simulations of the spatiotemporal (1+1D) nonlinear Schr¨odinger equation including the Raman scattering

Impact of Pump Quality on the Performances of Fiber Optical Parametric Amplifiers

International audienceThe principle of operation of fibre optical parametric amplifiers is revisited with a special attention to the pump wave characteristics ranging from the monochromatic coherent case to the incoherent one

Quantum fluctuations and correlations of spatial scalar or multimode vector solitons in Kerr media

International audienceWe apply the Green\'s function method to determine theglobal degree of squeezing and the transverse spatial distributionof quantum fluctuations of solitons in Kerr media. We show thatboth scalar bright solitons and multimode vector solitonsexperience strong squeezing on the optimal quadrature. For vectorsolitons, this squeezing is shown to result from an almost perfectanti-correlation between the fluctuations on the twoincoherently-coupled circular polarisations

Multimode Brillouin spectrum in a long tapered birefringent photonic crystal fiber

International audienceWe investigate the stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) in a long tapered birefringent solid-core photonic crystal fiber (PCF) and compare our results with a similar but untapered PCF. It is shown that the taper generates a broadband and multi-peaked Brillouin spectrum, while significantly increasing the threshold power. Furthermore, we observe that the strong fiber birefringence gives rise to a frequency shift of the Brillouin spectrum which increases along the fiber. Numerical simulations are also presented to account for the taper effect and on the birefringence. Our findings open a new mean to control or inhibit the SBS by tapering photonic crystal fibers