Three-octave spanning supercontinuum generation in a fluoride (ZBLAN) fiber

Abstract

We demonstrate broadband supercontinuum (SC) generation in a single-mode fluoride (ZBLAN) fiber pumped by 1.55 µm nanosecond pulses amplified in a cascade of fiber amplifiers. The recorded spectrum spread from ~ 900 nm to 3600 nm. The total output power was measured to be 0.66 W in entire spectral band. Over 65% of this power corresponded to wavelengths longer than 1.65 µm. The SC spectrum was generated in two steps: first the ~1 ns pulses were broken in a single-mode silica fiber (SMF) into a train of shorter sub-pulses leading to initial spectrum extension (from ~1.4 to 2.2 µm) and then the spectrum was further broadened into a ZBLAN fiber. The performance of the SC source is described.