Supercontinuum generation by combining clad-pumped Er/Yb co-doped fiber amplifier and highly nonlinear photonic crystal fiber

We present an experimental study on supercontinuum generation by combining a clad-pumped Er/Yb co-doped fiber amplifier (EYDFA) and a highly nonlinear photonic crystal fiber (HNL-PCF). By using the nonlinear polarization rotation technique, a stable femtosecond optical pulse seed signal with a central wavelength of 1556.36 nm and a spectral line width of ∼5.6 nm has been obtained. Then, this pulsed seed signal is amplified by the EYDFA, the amplified pulse, which, with the broaden spectrum, propagates in the HNL-PCF. The 20 dB bandwidth of ∼520 nm from 1230 to 1750 nm is obtained.     

Supercontinuum generation in square photonic crystal fiber with nearly zero ultra-flattened chromatic dispersion and fabrication tolerance analysis

This paper presents a simple index-guiding square photonic crystal fiber (SPCF) where the core is surrounded by air holes with two different diameters. The proposed design is simulated through an efficient full-vector modal solver based on the finite difference method with anisotropic perfectly matched layers absorbing boundary condition. The nearly zero ultra-flattened dispersion SPCF with low confinement loss, small effective area as well as broadband supercontinuum (SC) spectra is targeted. Numerical results show that the designed SPCF has been achieved at a nearly zero ultra-flattened dispersion of 0 ± 0.25 ps/(nm·km) in a wavelength range of 1.38 μm to 1.89 μm (510 nm band) which covers E, S, C, L and U communication bands, a low confinement loss of less than 10⁻⁷ dB/m in a wavelength range of 1.3 μm to 2.0 μm and a wide SC spectrum (FWHM = 450 nm) by using picosecond pulses at a center wavelength of 1.55 μm. We then analyze the sensitivity of chromatic dispersion to small variations from the optimum value of specific structural parameters. The proposed index-guiding SPCF can be applicable in supercontinuum generation (SCG) covering such diverse fields as spectroscopy applications and telecommunication dense wavelength division multiplexing (DWDM) sources.     

Supercontinuum generation in ultra-flat near zero dispersion PCF with selective liquid infiltration

We present a new design study of ultra-flat near zero dispersion PCF with selectively liquid infiltration with all uniform air-holes in the cladding. The dependence of the individual parameters upon dispersion has been presented in detail. The study establishes that varying Λ influences the total dispersion, whereas d has the desired effect of modifying the dispersion slope, and varying n_L modifies both. With the above study we could achieve near zero ultra-flat dispersion as small as 0 ± 0.41 ps/nm/km for broad wavelength range of 452 nm. The optimized near zero ultra-flat dispersion PCF has been targeted for smooth and flat broadband spectrum supercontinuum generation (SCG) for near Infrared (IR) applications. Broadband SC generations corresponding to three different designs of ultra-flat dispersion fiber have been carried out by using picoseconds pulse laser around the first zero dispersion wavelengths (ZDW). The numerical results show that FWHM of around 400 nm with less than a meter long fiber can be achieved with these fibers that cover most of the communication wavelength bands. The proposed design study will be applicable for applications in the field of tomography, Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing (DWDM) system, spectroscopy, etc.     

Ultra-broadband supercontinuum generation with a nonlinear chirped pulse for controlling quantum path

We theoretically investigate the high-order harmonic generation in helium atom driven by a nonlinear chirped laser pulse with few-cycle duration. By employing appropriate chirp to the driving pulse, an efficient electric field waveform of controlling quantum path for ultra-broadband supercontinuous harmonics is realized, and then an isolated sub-50 as pulse with bandwidth of 739 eV can be significantly obtained.     

Experimental investigation of supercontinuum generation in highly nonlinear dispersion-shifted fiber pumped by spectrum-sliced amplified spontaneous emission

Spectral broadening of spectrum-sliced amplified spontaneous emission (SS-ASE) in highly nonlinear, dispersion-shifted fiber in different dispersion regimes is investigated experimentally. We find that, the spectral noise of the amplified SS-ASE pump from Er³⁺-doped fiber amplifier seeds the spectral broadening via four-wave mixing or modulation instability. Stimulated Raman scattering, red-shifted Raman solitons, and blue-shifted dispersion waves all enhance the broadening of the spectrum. The effect of the polarization state of pump on supercontinuum generation is also investigated, and it is found that, linear polarization is more efficient than random polarization for pumping supercontinuum. Supercontinuum with −10 dB bandwidth of 200 nm is generated by launching linearly polarized pump with 33.5 dB m power into anomalous dispersion regime near to zero dispersion wavelength of fiber.     

Octave-spanning spectrum generation in Ti:sapphire oscillator

A Ti:sapphire oscillator emitting an octave-spanning spectrum that ranges from 460 to 1000 nm is demonstrated. To our knowledge, it is the first time that a supercontinuum as a whole measured after the output coupler extending beyond 500 nm in the blue end is generated from a femtosecond Ti:sapphire oscillator. In the Ti:sapphire oscillator operating in self-Q-switched and self-mode locked mode, two chirped mirrors and a prism pair were used for dispersion compensation. These experimental results would open a new option for the construction of simple continuum sources.     

Highly nonlinear chalcogenide glass micro/nanofiber devices: Design, theory, and octave-spanning spectral generation

In this review we consider the basic elements of tapering chalcogenide optical fibers for the generation of extreme spectral broadening through supercontinuum generation. Creating tapered nanofiber devices in chalcogenide fiber, which has an intrinsic nonlinearity that is two orders of magnitude higher than silica, has resulted in the demonstration of octave-spanning spectra using record low power. We first present a brief theoretical understanding of the tapering process that follows from the basic principle of mass conservation, and a geometric construction tool for the visualization of the shape of tapered fibers. This is followed by a theoretical treatment of dispersion engineering and supercontinuum generation in a chalcogenide nanofiber. In the final section, we cover the experimental implementation of the chalcogenide nanofiber and demonstrate an octave-spanning spectrum created with 150 W of peak power.     

准连续光抽运光子晶体光纤产生超连续谱中的调制不稳定性(英文)

报道了应用准连续光抽运光子晶体光纤产生超连续谱时的一种现象,并根据调制不稳定和数值解薛定谔方程证明此现象为调制不稳定性.在实验中发现有两个波峰,与中心波长之间的距离分别为27 .08 nm和32 .72 nm,经过对比和分析数值结算和实验结果非常吻合,说明调制不稳定性在准连续光抽运光子晶体光纤产生超连续谱过程中起着重要的作用.     

Numerical investigation of a broadband coherent supercontinuum generation in Ga8Sb32S60 chalcogenide photonic crystal fiber with all-normal dispersion

All normal dispersion (ANDi) and highly nonlinear chalcogenide glass photonic crystal fiber (PCF) is proposed and numerically investigated for a broad, coherent and ultra-flat mid-infrared supercontinuum generation. The proposed PCF consists of a solid core made of Ga₈Sb₃₂S₆₀ glass surrounded by seven rings of air holes arranged in a triangular lattice. We show by employing the finite difference frequency domain (FDFD) method that the Ga₈Sb₃₂S₆₀ PCF dispersion properties can be engineered by carefully adjusting the air holes diameter in the cladding region and ANDi regime is achieved over the entire range of wavelengths with a zero chromatic dispersion around 4.5?μm. Moreover, we demonstrate that injecting 50?fs width and 20?kW peak power laser pulses (corresponding to a pulse energy of 1.06?nJ) at a pump wavelength of 4.5?μm into a 1?cm long ANDi Ga₈Sb₃₂S₆₀ PCF generates a broad, flat-top and perfectly coherent SC spectrum extending from 1.65?μm to 9.24?μm at the 20?dB spectral flatness. These results make the proposed Ga₈Sb₃₂S₆₀ PCF an excellent candidate for various important mid-infrared region applications including mid-infrared spectroscopy, medical imaging, optical coherence tomography and materials characterization.