Extreme-value statistics in supercontinuum generation by cascaded stimulated Raman scattering

Area of Science:

• Nonlinear Optics
• Quantum Optics
• Laser Physics

Background:

• Supercontinuum generation is crucial for various applications, including spectroscopy and optical communications.
• Understanding statistical fluctuations in supercontinuum spectra is essential for predicting and controlling output characteristics.
• Cascaded stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) in the normal dispersion regime is a key mechanism for supercontinuum generation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To experimentally investigate the statistical fluctuations of spectral variations in supercontinuum generation.
• To analyze the evolution of these fluctuations under cascaded stimulated Raman scattering in the normal dispersion regime.
• To characterize the statistical distributions of shot-to-shot spectral variations for different Stokes orders.

Main Methods:

• Experimental generation of supercontinuum in a fiber with normal dispersion.
• Utilizing cascaded stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) to produce multiple Stokes orders.
• Statistical analysis of shot-to-shot spectral variations using high-resolution spectroscopy.

Main Results:

• Observed a transition in the statistical distribution of spectral fluctuations.
• For Stokes orders near the pump in the saturated regime, distributions were quasi-Gaussian.
• For Stokes orders far from the pump in the unsaturated regime, distributions exhibited long tails, characteristic of extreme-value distributions.

Conclusions:

• The statistical nature of spectral fluctuations in supercontinuua generated via cascaded SRS is dependent on the saturation regime and spectral position.
• This evolution from Gaussian to extreme-value distributions has implications for the predictability and noise properties of supercontinuum sources.
• Understanding these statistical properties is vital for optimizing supercontinuum generation for specific applications.