Measurement of the frequency response of the electrostrictive nonlinearity in optical fibers

The electrostrictive contribution to the nonlinear refractive index is investigated by use of frequency-dependent cross-phase modulation with a weak unpolarized cw probe wave and a harmonically modulated pump copropagating in optical fibers. Self-delayed homodyne detection is used to measure the amp...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Optics letters 1997-05, Vol.22 (10), p.676-678
Main Authors: Buckland, E L, Boyd, R W
Format: Article
Language:English
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:The electrostrictive contribution to the nonlinear refractive index is investigated by use of frequency-dependent cross-phase modulation with a weak unpolarized cw probe wave and a harmonically modulated pump copropagating in optical fibers. Self-delayed homodyne detection is used to measure the amplitude of the sidebands imposed upon the probe wave as a function of pump intensity for pump modulation frequencies from 10 MHz to 1 GHz. The ratio of the electrostrictive nonlinear coefficient to the cross-phase-modulation Kerr coefficient for unpolarized light is measured to be 1.58:1 for a standard step-index single-mode fiber and 0.41:1 for dispersion-shifted fibers, indicating a larger electrostrictive response in silica fibers than previously expected.
ISSN:0146-9592
1539-4794
DOI:10.1364/OL.22.000676