Spectral broadening of femtosecond laser pulses in fibers with a photonic-crystal cladding

Abstract
Changes in the spectra of femtosecond laser pulses propagating through fibers with a cladding having the structure of a two-dimensional photonic crystal are experimentally investigated. It is demonstrated that the waveguide properties of defect modes of photonic-crystal fibers provide an opportunity to considerably increase the efficiency of spectral broadening of short laser pulses as compared with conventional fibers.