Net optical parametric gain in a submicron silicon core fiber pumped in the telecom band

A silicon core fiber (SCF) has been designed and fabricated with a dispersion engineered profile to support broadband optical parametric amplification across the telecom window. The combination of low optical transmission losses and high coupling efficiency of the SCF platform has allowed for an on-off optical parametric gain up to 9 dB, without experiencing gain saturation due to nonlinear absorption, resulting in a net off-waveguide gain of ∼2 dB. The ability to splice the SCFs with conventional silica fiber systems opens a route to compact and robust all-fiber integrated optical parametric amplifiers and oscillators that could find use in telecoms systems.