The photonic crystal fibre (PCF) is a unique medium giving us the opportunity to perform experiments in carefully chosen regimes with precision and control. Using PCFs, we can perform analogue gravity experiments to study the physics of Hawking radiation and related processes such as resonant radiation. We discuss the similarities and differences between these processes and experimentally investigate the limits of effects of this type, dis- covering a new regime of record efficiency. We measure a 60% energy conversion efficiency from a pump to a visible femtosecond pulse by the process of resonant radiation, and demonstrate its extraordinary tunability in wavelength and bandwidth. Beyond analogue gravity, these femtosecond visible pulses provide a desirable laser source useful across a variety of modern scientific fields.
This article is part of a discussion meeting issue ‘The next generation of analogue gravity experiments’.
Intermodal four-wave mixing from femtosecond pulse-pumped photonic crystal fiber
