Understanding the nonlinear-optical response of a liquid-core photonic-crystal fiber

Abstract

We demonstrate single-mode guiding in a 4-μm-inner-diameter hollow photonic-crystal fiber filled with a highly nonlinear liquid. The nonlinear response of such a fiber is shown to drastically differ from a typical nonlinear response of a silica waveguide. Strong inertia of optical nonlinearity of the liquid filling the fiber core translates into a pulse-width-dependent red shift of the spectrally broadened fiber output.