Performance Analysis of the Four-Wave Mixing Effect with Various Tapered Fiber Waist Diameters

In this work, we report the use of different waist diameters of tapered fiber to generate a four-wave mixing (FWM) effect. The FWM conversion efficiencies obtained from the tapered fiber with 10 µm, 20 µm, and 30 µm waist diameters were −37.81 dB, −38.50 dB, and −39.01 dB, respectively, at 1.584 W pump power. The FWM-based outputs were stable over a 60 min measurement at a 1.5 µm wavelength operation, with a small fluctuation range of 0.21 to 0.45 dB. Furthermore, the setup could generate the FWM effect with a maximum tuning range of 9.5 nm (10 µm and 20 µm) and 9.0 nm (30 µm). The numerical simulation results showed a high nonlinearity at the air-cladding region when the tapered waist diameter was reduced. These characteristics of the tapered fiber can be used as an excellent medium for studying nonlinear phenomena, which could result in the development of new photonic devices for high-power optical communication.