Open AccessExtreme polarization-dependent supercontinuum generation in an uncladded silicon nitride waveguide
Author(s) -
Eirini Tagkoudi,
Caroline Amiot,
Goëry Genty,
CamilleSophie Brès
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - Uncategorized
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.430197
Subject(s) - supercontinuum , optics , materials science , polarization (electrochemistry) , self phase modulation , optoelectronics , waveguide , wavelength , nonlinear optics , physics , photonic crystal fiber , laser , chemistry
We experimentally demonstrate the generation of a short-wave infrared supercontinuum in an uncladded silicon nitride (Si 3 N 4 ) waveguide with extreme polarization sensitivity at the pumping wavelength of 2.1 µm. The air-clad waveguide is specifically designed to yield anomalous dispersion regime for transverse electric (TE) mode excitation and all-normal-dispersion (ANDi) at near-infrared wavelengths for the transverse magnetic (TM) mode. Dispersion engineering of the polarization modes allows for switching via simple adjustment of the input polarization state from an octave-spanning soliton fission-driven supercontinuum with fine spectral structure to a flat and smooth ANDi supercontinuum dominated by a self-phase modulation mechanism (SPM). Such a polarization sensitive supercontinuum source offers versatile applications such as broadband on-chip sensing to pulse compression and few-cycle pulse generation. Our experimental results are in very good agreement with numerical simulations.