Abstract

Photonic crystal fiber (PCF) is a pure silica fiber in which waveguiding is due to the arrangement of a pattern of tiny air holes running down the fiber length. The massive nonlinearity and unusual group velocity dispersion characteristics that can be achieved in such fibers make them spectacular vehicles for nonlinear fiber optics. Anomalous group velocity dispersion at near infrared and visible wavelengths, [1], soliton propagation in the near infrared [2] and broadband supercontinuum generation [3] amply demonstrate the wide range of interesting effects which have been reported.

© 2002 Optical Society of America