Design and Optimization of C6H5NO2-Core Photonic Crystal Fibers for Broadband Supercontinuum Generation with Low Peak Power

This study presents a new square-lattice photonic crystal fiber (PCF) with a nitrobenzene core. Considering the non-uniformity of the air hole diameter, this new design allows the characteristic quantities to be optimized simultaneously to ensure near-zero dispersion, a small effective mode area, and low loss for efficient spectral broadening. The spectrum broadens significantly at peak powers many times lower than in previous studies. Based on the obtained results, two optimal PCFs are proposed and validated in detail for supercontinuum generation (SCG). The first fiber #F-1 operates in an all-normal dispersion regime with a pump wavelength of 1.3 & mu;m.It produces a spectral supecontinuum (SC) from 0.726 to 1.649 & mu;m with a pulse duration of 90 fs and a peak power of 133 W. Meanwhile, the second fiber #F-2 operates in anomalous dispersion regime with a pump wavelength of 1.61 & mu;m. With a low peak power of 300 W and a pulse duration of 150 fs, the fiber #F-2 provides SC generation with bandwidth from 0.805 & mu;m to 3.970 & mu;m. The proposed fibers are suitable for all-fiber SC light sources, respectively, and may lead to new low-cost all-fiber optical systems.