Generation of multiwatt, broadband continua in holey fibers

Abstract

We demonstrate that 2-W average-fpower 310-nm-wide continua can be generated in holey fibers by use of a novel 6-W pump source at 770 nm. The pump source is demonstrated by use of the 64% efficient quasi-phase-matched second-harmonic generation of a seeded 10-W erbium fiber amplifier in periodically poled KTP. Nonlinear contributions to generation of high-power continua in holey fibers are identified and analyzed.

Spectral broadening of femtosecond pulses into continuum radiation in microstructured fibers

“…By varying the arrangement and size of the holes, the dispersion properties of the fiber can be tailored in broad ranges and, for instance, the effective area of the propagating mode can be adjusted to enhance the optical nonlinearities in the fiber. The combination of the unique dispersion properties and enhanced nonlinearities can be used for advantage to obtain efficient generation of supercontinuum (SC) radiation when the fiber is pumped with short pulses of laser light with wavelength located in the vicinity of the zero-dispersion wavelength (ZDW) [6][7][8]. Attempts have been made to identify the different nonlinear contributions in the formation of the continuum [9][10][11][12].…”

Continuous-wave, high-power, Raman continuum generation in holey fibers

“…With nanosecond pulses this has been proved by using a microchip 2 and Yb f iber pump sources. 8 In this Letter we demonstrate the possibility of low-peak-power and even purely cw, multiwatt Raman continuum generation with average powers as high as 4.1 W and present results on the eff iciency of Raman continuum generation in holey fibers under the conditions of variable peak power and interaction length. The maximum available spectral power density of the continua is found to be limited by the water-peak-associated absorption of holey fibers and the corresponding reduction of the effective length of the SRS.…”

Non-linear applications of microstructured optical fibres

“…Demonstrations using femtosecond, picosecond, nanosecond, and continuous-wave (Avdokhin et al 2003;Herrmann et al 2002;Rulkov et al 2005;Coen et al 2002;Champert et al 2002;Wadsworth et al 2004;Travers et al 2005) pump sources have been made and the resulting spectra explained qualitatively and sometimes quantitatively in terms of well established nonlinear optical processes. Manipulation of the nonlinear contributions by varying the properties of microstructured fibers provides control over the generation of supercontinua to achieve custom, desirable features.…”