We report on the experimental development of short-tapered chalcogenide-glass rods for mid-infrared supercontinuum generation. Multi-octave spectral broadening of femtosecond laser pulses is demonstrated from 1.6 to 15.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAdaptative objects based on shape-memory materials are expected to significantly impact numerous technological sectors including optics and photonics. In this work, we demonstrate the manufacturing of shape-memory optical fibers from the thermal stretching of additively manufactured preforms. First, we show how standard commercially-available thermoplastics can be used to produce long continuously-structured microfilaments with shape-memory abilities.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAmong the different fundamental aspects that govern the design and development of elongated multimaterial structures via the preform-to-fiber technique, material association methodologies hold a crucial role. They greatly impact the number, complexity and possible combinations of functions that can be integrated within single fibers, thus defining their applicability. In this work, a co-drawing strategy to produce monofilament microfibers from unique glass-polymer associations is investigated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGlasses in the TeO-ZnO-YO (TZY) ternary system are examined in the present work. The vitrification domain of the chosen oxide matrix is determined and differential scanning calorimetry as well as X-ray diffraction measurements are carried out. The material characterizations reveal that YO incorporation cannot exceed 5 mol.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInfrared fiber materials such as chalcogenide, tellurite, and heavily germanium-doped silica glasses are attractive materials for many applications based on nonlinear optical effects such as Kerr, Raman, and Brillouin processes. Here, we experimentally demonstrate a close-to-single-frequency Brillouin fiber laser in the 2-μm wavelength region either based on tellurite () glass or on heavily germanium-doped silica glass. Our results reveal a strong enhancement of the Brillouin gain efficiency at 2 μm of more than 50 times that of standard silica optical fibers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF