Square lattice hollow core photonic bandgap fibres

We propose a novel photonic bandgap fibre (PBGF) based on a square lattice cladding. The fibre presents a 20% wider bandgap than conventional triangular-lattice-based PBGFs and with a 9-cell core can be effectively single moded

Semiconductor filled microstructured optical fibres with single mode guidance

Microstructured optical fibre (MOF) technology has generated new opportunities for the implementation of optical fibres with novel properties and functions [1]. It has been shown that silica MOFs make excellent 3D templates for semiconductor material deposition inside the capillary voids [2]. Recently a silicon MOF was designed and fabricated that had a high refractive index micron sized core, but yet only supported two guided modes [3]. This structure was realised via the complete filling of a hollow core photonic bandgap fibre (PBGF) with silicon so that the original air guiding PBGF was converted to a total internal reflection guiding fibre. Here, we extend the investigation by using a finite element method to model the optical properties of semiconductor filled MOFs of similar structures, with the aim to achieve broadband single mode guidance. Strategies to achieve single mode guidance both through the MOF template design and the selective filling of the voids of the original PBGF with semiconductor materials of different indices (silicon, silicon nitride, germanium) are proposed and investigated numerically. In particular, by selectively filling MOF templates with cladding rods that have a slightly raised index over that of the core, index guiding single mode operation can be observed in high index micron sized cores. Small index differences are achievable by controlling the nitrogen content in SiNx and an example of a single mode semiconductor MOF is shown in Figure 1, where the confinement loss of the fundamental mode is ~106 lower than the lowest order cladding mode

Ultra-Long-Haul WDM Transmission Using NANF Hollow-Core Fiber

Hollow-core fiber NANF prototypes have recently achieved lower loss and wider bandwidth than SMF. Theory predicts further progress may be possible. We investigate the potential impact of future high-performance NANFs on long-haul optical communication systems

Novel applications of fibre tapers

In this talk we will discuss new applications for fibre tapers ranging from femtosecond pulse manipulation to optical clock generation in micro-coil resonators. Fundamental to these interactions is the enhanced nonlinearity arising from the smaller cores making compact optical devices possible

Designing lentiviral vectors for gene therapy of genetic diseases

Lentiviral vectors are the most frequently used tool to stably transfer and express genes in the context of gene therapy for monogenic diseases. The vast majority of clinical applications involves an ex vivo modality whereby lentiviral vectors are used to transduce autologous somatic cells, ob-tained from patients and re-delivered to patients after transduction. Examples are hematopoietic stem cells used in gene therapy for hematological or neurometabolic diseases or T cells for immunotherapy of cancer. We review the design and use of lentiviral vectors in gene therapy of monogenic diseases, with a focus on controlling gene expression by transcriptional or post-transcriptional mechanisms in the context of vectors that have already entered a clinical development phase

Robust low loss splicing of hollow core photonic bandgap fiber to itself

Robust, low loss (0.16dB) splicing of hollow core photonic band gap fiber to itself is presented. Modal content is negligibly affected by splicing, enabling penalty-free 40Gbit/s data transmission over > 200m of spliced PBGF

Interactions between Retroviruses and the Host Cell Genome

Replication-defective retroviral vectors have been used for more than 25 years as a tool for efficient and stable insertion of therapeutic transgenes in human cells. Patients suffering from severe genetic diseases have been successfully treated by transplantation of autologous hematopoietic stem-progenitor cells (HSPCs) transduced with retroviral vectors, and the first of this class of therapies, Strimvelis, has recently received market authorization in Europe. Some clinical trials, however, resulted in severe adverse events caused by vector-induced proto-oncogene activation, which showed that retroviral vectors may retain a genotoxic potential associated to proviral integration in the human genome. The adverse events sparked a renewed interest in the biology of retroviruses, which led in a few years to a remarkable understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying retroviral integration site selection within mammalian genomes. This review summarizes the current knowledge on retrovirus-host interactions at the genomic level, and the peculiar mechanisms by which different retroviruses, and their related gene transfer vectors, integrate in, and interact with, the human genome. This knowledge provides the basis for the development of safer and more efficacious retroviral vectors for human gene therapy

Opportunities and Challenges for Long-Distance Transmission in Hollow-Core Fibres

Anti-resonant hollow-core fiber of the Nested Antiresonant Nodeless type (NANF) has been showing a steady decrease in loss over the last few years, gradually approaching that of standard Single-Mode Fiber (SMF). It already by far outperforms SMF as to non-linear effects, which are three to four orders of magnitude lower in NANF than in SMF. Theoretical predictions and experimental evidence also hint at a much wider usable bandwidth than SMF, potentially amounting to several tens of THz. Propagation speed is 50% faster, a key feature in certain contexts. In this paper we investigate the potential impact of possible future high-performance NANF on long-haul optical communication systems, assuming NANF continues on its current steady path towards better performance. We look at the system throughput in different long-haul scenarios, addressing links of various length, from 100~km to 4,000~km, and different NANF optical bandwidths, loss and total launch power. We compare such throughput with a benchmark state-of-the-art SMF Raman-amplified C+L system. We found that NANF might enable relative throughput gains vs.~the benchmark on the order of 1.5x to 5x, at reasonable NANF and system parameter values. We also study the problem of the impact of NANF Inter-Modal-Interference (IMI) on system performance and show that a value of -60~dB/km, close to the currently best reported values, is low enough to have no substantial harmful effect. We finally look at a more long-term scenario in which NANF loss gets below that of SMF and we show that in this context repeterless or even completely amplifierless systems might be possible, delivering 300-400 Tb/s per NANF, over 200 to 300~km distances. The system simplification and ease of wideband exploitation implied by these systems might prove quite attractive especially in densely populated regions where inter-node distances are modest. While several technological hurdles remain towards NANF systems becoming practical contenders, in our opinion NANF appears to have the potential to become an attractive and possibly disruptive alternative to conventional solid-core silica fibers

Microstructured optical fibres for gas sensing: design fabrication and post-fab processing

Air/silica Microstructured Optical Fibers (MOFs) offer new prospects for fiber based sensor devices. In this paper, two topics of particular significance for gas sensing using air guiding Photonic Bandgap Fibers (PBGFs) are discussed. First, we address the issue of controlling the modal properties of PBGFs and demonstrate a single mode, polarization maintaining air guiding PBGF. Secondly, we present recent improvements of a femtosecond laser machining technique for fabricating fluidic channels in PBGFs, which allowed us to achieve cells with multiple side access channels and low additional loss

Predicting Structural and Optical Properties of Hollow-Core Photonic Bandgap Fibers from Second Stage Preforms

We propose a simple theory based on mass conservation that allows accurate prediction of guidance properties in hollow-core photonic bandgap fibers (HC-PBGF) from knowledge of the second stage preforms from which the fibers are drawn