Open AccessCoherent octave spanning near-infrared and visible supercontinuum generation in all-normal dispersion photonic crystal fibers
Author(s) -
Alexander M. Heidt,
Alexander Hartung,
Gurthwin Bosman,
Patrizia Krok,
Erich G. Rohwer,
H. Schwoerer,
Hartmut Bartelt
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.19.003775
Subject(s) - supercontinuum , optics , photonic crystal fiber , materials science , ultrashort pulse , dispersion (optics) , self phase modulation , optoelectronics , optical fiber , nonlinear optics , physics , laser
We present the first detailed demonstrations of octave-spanning SC generation in all-normal dispersion photonic crystal fibers (ANDi PCF) in the visible and near-infrared spectral regions. The resulting spectral profiles are extremely flat without significant fine structure and with excellent stability and coherence properties. The key benefit of SC generation in ANDi PCF is the conservation of a single ultrashort pulse in the time domain with smooth and recompressible phase distribution. For the first time we confirm the exceptional temporal properties of the generated SC pulses experimentally and demonstrate their applicability in ultrafast transient absorption spectroscopy. The experimental results are in excellent agreement with numerical simulations, which are used to illustrate the SC generation dynamics by self-phase modulation and optical wave breaking. To our knowledge, we present the broadest spectra generated in the normal dispersion regime of an optical fiber.