Tunable optical parametric amplification characteristics of liquid-filled chalcogenide photonic crystal fibers

A new technique to attain tunable parametric amplification in photonic crystal fibers (PCFs) through control of chromatic dispersion is proposed and empirically investigated. By infiltrating the air channels of the PCFs with suitable thermo-optic liquids, the zero-dispersion wavelength (ZDW) can be tailored to provide a wider gain spectrum in the mid-IR range and generate blueshifted frequency components. It is deduced that a change of 10-20 nm in the ZDW around the pump creates a gain region several hundred nanometers from the pump wavelength by only varying the temperature of the liquid externally.