Spectrally-resolved statistical characterization of seeded supercontinuum suppression using optical time-stretch.

Area of Science:

• Nonlinear Optics
• Spectroscopy
• Optical Engineering

Background:

• Characterizing supercontinuum (SC) noise properties in real-time has been limited by ultrafast optical spectrometer technology.
• Understanding SC noise is crucial for insights into spectral dynamics and developing stable SC sources.
• Active seeding mechanisms for SC generation are of significant research interest.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate real-time, spectrally-resolved, broadband, statistical characterization of continuous-wave (CW) seeded SC.
• To investigate the impact of CW seeding on SC spectral properties and stability.
• To explore the potential of optical time-stretch (OTS) for analyzing complex SC generation dynamics.

Main Methods:

• Utilized an ultrahigh-speed spectral acquisition technique: optical time-stretch (OTS).
• Performed real-time, spectrally-resolved, broadband, statistical characterization of CW-seeded SC.
• Analyzed shot-to-shot statistics to evaluate SC bandwidth and spectral stability.

Main Results:

• Demonstrated a compromise between SC bandwidth and spectral stability under CW seeding.
• Identified seeding conditions for SC suppression, linked to cascaded parametric processes.
• Captured real-time spectral signatures of Raman solitons using OTS at 20 MHz acquisition rate.

Conclusions:

• Optical time-stretch (OTS) enables real-time statistical characterization of seeded SC.
• CW seeding influences SC generation, offering a balance between bandwidth and stability.
• OTS provides new insights into seeded SC mechanisms, including Raman soliton dynamics.