Ricerc@Sapienza

We experimentally demonstrate a previously unforeseen nonlinear effect in optical fibers: up-conversion luminescence generation excited by multiphoton absorption of femtosecond infrared pulses. We directly estimate the average number of photons involved in the up-conversion process, by varying the wavelength of the pump source. We highlight the role of nonbridging oxygen hole centers and oxygen-deficient center defects and directly compare the intensity of side-scattered luminescence with numerical simulations of pulse propagation.