Modeling DC-Induced Nonlinearity in Fiber

Chris Sapiano

The Edward S. Rogers Sr. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (Photonics)

Abstract:

Silica glass, owing to its inversion symmetry, does not exhibit even ordered nonlinear susceptibilities. However it has been observed that heating and cooling a glass sample under the influence of a DC electric field (a process known as thermal poling) a significant second order nonlinearity can be induced. I will discuss a special class of optical fibers which have undergone the thermal poling process. There will be specific focus on our research towards modeling and comparing these DC-induced second order processes against equivalent third order processes.

Biography:

Chris Sapiano received a B.A.Sc. degree with honours from University of Toronto in Engineering Science (physics option). During his undergraduate thesis research he worked under Prof. Li Qian on the design and construction of erbium doped fiber laser systems for use in passively mode-locked laser systems. Following this he fast-tracked into the PhD program in Electrical Engineering as a member of the Photonics Group. His research, supervised by Prof. Stewart Aitchison and Prof. Li Qian, has focused on simulation of various aspects of nonlinear generation in thermally poled silica fibers.