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Emerging applications in the mid-infrared (MIR) stimulate the growth and development of novel optical light sources. Soliton self-frequency shift (SSFS) in soft glass fiber currently shows great potential as an efficient approach toward the generation of broadly tunable femtosecond pulses in the MIR. In this work, we demonstrate a highly efficient tunable soliton source based on SSFS in chalcogenide glass. We show a simple and fully fiberized system to generate these continuously tunable Raman solitons over a broad spectral range of 2.047–2.667 µm, which consumes no more than 87 pJ per pulse. The spectral measurements suggest that the generated pulses are as short as 62 fs with a maximum power conversion efficiency of 43%. This result is realized thanks to an 8 cm long A s 2 S 3 microstructure optical fiber tapered into a microwire. Thanks to their broad transparency, their high nonlinearity, and their adjustable chromatic dispersion, chalcogenide microwires are promising components for the development of compact and highly efficient MIR optical sources with low power consumption.

Alloys of sulphur, selenium and tellurium, often referred to as chalcogenide semiconductors offer a highly versatile, compositionally-controllable material platform for a variety of passive and active photonic applications. They are optically nonlinear, photoconductive materials with wide transmission windows that present various high- and low-index dielectric, low-epsilon and plasmonic properties across ultra-violet, visible and infrared frequencies, in addition to an ultra-fast, non-volatile, electrically-/optically-induced switching capability between phase states with markedly different electromagnetic properties. This roadmap collection presents an in-depth account of the critical role that chalcogenide semiconductors play within various traditional and emerging photonic technology platforms. The potential of this field going forward is demonstrated by presenting context and outlook on selected socioeconomically important research streams utilizing chalcogenide semiconductors. To this end, this roadmap encompasses selected topics that range from systematic design of material properties and switching kinetics to device level nanostructuring and integration within various photonic system architectures.

We derive an analytical formulation of the Raman-induced frequency shift experienced by a fundamental soliton. By including propagation losses, self-steepening, and dispersion slope, the resulting formulation is a high-order (HO) extension of the well-known Gordon’s formula for soliton self-frequency shift (SSFS). The HO-SSFS formula agrees closely with numerical results of the generalized nonlinear Schrödinger equation, but without the computational complexity and required computation time. The HO-SSFS formula is a useful tool for the design and validation of wavelength conversion systems and supercontinuum generation systems.

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We report an all-fiber supercontinuum generation system with high power conversion efficiency. A soliton compression stage followed by a supercontinuum generation stage lead to a power efficient supercontinuum that spans 1.5–2.7 µm.

We demonstrate the highest energy conversion efficiency of 84.6% from a soliton self-frequency shift system based on a passive silica fiber. The soliton is tunable over 310 nm in the spectral range 1.96-2.27 µm.

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