Supercontinuum generation from intense partially coherent laser beams in optical fibers

P. Corredera; S. Martín-López; M. González-Herráez

doi:10.1117/12.839686

4 August 2009 Supercontinuum generation from intense partially coherent laser beams in optical fibers

P. Corredera, S. Martín-López, M. González-Herráez

Proceedings Volume 7386, Photonics North 2009; 73862M (2009) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.839686
Event: Photonics North 2009, 2009, Quebec, Canada

Abstract

This paper analyses the advantageous features of supercontinuum (SC) generated from continuous-wave (CW) excitation. It has been shown that both the generation mechanisms and the temporal and spectral properties of supercontinuum produced with CW pump lasers are different from those of generated by means of pulsed excitation, in particular the remarkable smoothness of CW-SC spectra. We show that these unique spectral features stem from the fission of the partially coherent CW input beam into a train of subpicosecond pulses induced by the modulation instability (MI). These subpicosecond pulses lead to the formation of optical solitons with inherently random parameters, which self-frequency shift differently depending on their characteristics. The resulting supercontinuum spectrum is hence the average of many different soliton spectra, which have suffered different frequency shifts. Different experimental setups used in our lab are presented and the dependence of the SC generation on the coherence of the fiber laser and the fiber dispersion profile are shown.

Citation Download Citation

P. Corredera, S. Martín-López, and M. González-Herráez "Supercontinuum generation from intense partially coherent laser beams in optical fibers", Proc. SPIE 7386, Photonics North 2009, 73862M (4 August 2009); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.839686

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available