Dispersion engineering in nonlinear soft glass photonic crystal fibers infiltrated with liquids

We present a numerical study of the dispersion characteristic modification of nonlinear photonic crystal fibers infiltrated with liquids. A photonic crystal fiber based on the soft glass PBG-08, infiltrated with 17 different organic solvents, is proposed. The glass has a light transmission window in the visible-mid-IR range of 0.4-5 μm and has a higher refractive index than fused silica, which provides high contrast between the fiber structure and the liquids. A fiber with air holes is designed and then developed in the stack-and-draw process. Analyzing SEM images of the real fiber, we calculate numerically the refractive index, effective mode area, and dispersion of the fundamental mode for the case when the air holes are filled with liquids. The influence of the liquids on the fiber properties is discussed. Numerical simulations of supercontinuum generation for the fiber with air holes only and infiltrated with toluene are presented.