Approximate equivalence between guided modes in a low-contrast photonic bandgap fiber and Maxwell TM modes of a high-contrast two-dimensional photonic structure

We present a formal analogy between the eigenvalue problem for guided scalar modes in a low-contrast photonic bandgap fiber and quasi-stationary TM modes of a two-dimensional (2D) photonic structure. Using this analogy, we numerically study the confinement losses of disordered microstructured fibers through the leakage rate of an open 2D system with high refractive index inclusions. Our results show that for large values of the disorder, the confinement losses increase. However, they also suggest that losses might be improved in strongly disordered fibers by exploring ranges of physical parameters where Anderson localization sets in

Numerical and experimental analysis of the birefringence of large air fraction slightly unsymmetrical holey fibres

International audienceCareful numerical computations show that very slight geometrical imperfections of the cross-section of actual large air-fraction holey fibres (d/Λ > 0.6) may induce surprisingly high birefringence, corresponding to beat lengths as short as few millimeters. The spectral variations of this birefringence obeys laws similar to those of elliptical core Hi-Bi holey fibres with low air-fraction. For all the tested fibres, the group birefringence numerically deduced from the only shape birefringence is in good agreement with the measured one that does not varies when strongly heating the fibres. These computations and measurements show that the contribution of possible inner stress to the birefringence is negligible

First test on Photonic Crystal Fiber potential for broadband interferometry

International audienceThe Photonic Crystal Fibers (PCFs) are microstructured waveguides currently developed in the frame of metrology, non-linear optics or coherent tomography. PCF studies are mainly focused on the improvement of dispersion property and wide spectral single-mode operating domain. Consequently, in the astronomical context, this kind of fiber is a good candidate to design a fiber linked version of stellar interferometer for aperture synthesis. In this paper, we study the potential of these fibers taking advantage of the wide spectral single-mode operation. We propose an experimental setup acting as a two-beam interferometer using PCFs to measure fringes contrasts at four different wavelengths (670nm, 980nm, 1328nm and 1543nm) corresponding to R, I, J and H astronomical bands with the same couple of PCFs. For this purpose, we implement for the first time a piezoelectric PCF optical path modulator

Optical pump-rejection filter based on silicon sub-wavelength engineered photonic structures

The high index contrast of the silicon-on-insulator (SOI) platform allows the realization of ultra-compact photonic circuits. However, this high contrast hinders the implementation of narrow-band Bragg filters. These typically require corrugations widths of a few nanometers or double-etch geometries, hampering device fabrication. Here we report, for the first time, on the realization of SOI Bragg filters based on sub-wavelength index engineering in a differential corrugation width configuration. The proposed double periodicity structure allows narrow-band rejection with a single etch step and relaxed width constraints. Based on this concept, we experimentally demonstrate a single-etch, $\mathbf{220\,nm}$ thick, Si Bragg filter featuring a corrugation width of $\mathbf{150\,nm}$, a rejection bandwidth of $\mathbf{1.1\,nm}$ and an extinction ratio exceeding $\mathbf{40\,dB}$. This represents a ten-fold width increase compared to conventional single-periodicity, single-etch counterparts with similar bandwidths

Entanglement distribution over 150 km in wavelength division multiplexed channels for quantum cryptography

7 pages, 5 figuresInternational audienceGranting information privacy is of crucial importance in our society, notably in fiber communication networks. Quantum cryptography provides a unique means to establish, at remote locations, identical strings of genuine random bits, with a level of secrecy unattainable using classical resources. However, several constraints, such as non-optimized photon number statistics and resources, detectors' noise, and optical losses, currently limit the performances in terms of both achievable secret key rates and distances. Here, these issues are addressed using an approach that combines both fundamental and off-the-shelves technological resources. High-quality bipartite photonic entanglement is distributed over a 150 km fiber link, exploiting a wavelength demultiplexing strategy implemented at the end-user locations. It is shown how coincidence rates scale linearly with the number of employed telecommunication channels, with values outperforming previous realizations by almost one order of magnitude. Thanks to its potential of scalability and compliance with device-independent strategies, this system is ready for real quantum applications, notably entanglement-based quantum cryptography

Microstructured air-silica fibres: Recent developments in modelling, manufacturing and experiment

37 pagesInternational audienceThe main modelling methods devoted to microstrutured air-silica optical fibres (MOFs) are presented and discussed. Then, the specific propagation properties of MOFs are studied in detail. Characteristics measured on fibres manufactured in our laboratory or reported in the literature are analysed. A large number of potential and demonstrated applications are presented and the obtained performances are discussed. A particular attention is given to hollow- core photonic bandgap fibres and their applications