Applications of nonlinear effects in highly nonlinear photonic crystal fiber to optical communications

Unique dispersion characteristics and enhanced nonlinearity make the small-core photonic crystal fiber (PCF) an ideal candidate for nonlinear optical devices to telecommunication applications. Some technical reasons behind great research interest of highly nonlinear PCFs in optical communication components are reviewed. Nonlinear effects in highly nonlinear PCFs and their research progress are presented. Several typical applications including WDM sources, optical amplification, optical switching, wavelength conversion, optical regeneration and all-optical demultiplexing etc are introduced, together with state-of-the art performances. Some new possible applications and future prospects are discussed.