Optical parametric amplification in dispersion-flattened highly nonlinear photonic crystal fibers

Photonic Crystal Fibers (PCFs) are optical fibers with unique guiding characteristics as well as unusual nonlinear and dispersion properties. Since PCFs offer the possibility to engineer the zero-dispersion wavelength, the dispersion curve and the nonlinear coefficient value, they are very interesting for optical parametric amplification. In the present paper the phase-matching condition has been deeply analyzed in different triangular PCFs configurations. In particular, highly nonlinear PCFs have been designed to achieve flattened dispersion curves around the zero-dispersion wavelength in the C band. Very flat parametric gain, around W dB, on a bandwidth up to 35 nm can be obtained with short PCF and low pump power level.