Broadband supercontinuum generation in all-normal dispersion chalcogenide microwires

Area of Science:

• Nonlinear optics
• Materials science
• Photonics

Background:

• Supercontinuum generation is crucial for spectroscopy and optical communications.
• Achieving broadband supercontinuum in all-normal dispersion regimes typically requires complex setups.
• Chalcogenide materials offer unique nonlinear properties for light manipulation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate the first all-normal dispersion chalcogenide microwire for supercontinuum generation.
• To utilize optical wave breaking, a low-noise nonlinear process, for spectral broadening.
• To achieve octave-spanning supercontinuum with a compact and efficient device.

Main Methods:

• Fabrication of a tapered arsenic trisulfide (As2S3) microwire with a diameter of 0.58 μm.
• Designing the microwire to operate in the all-normal dispersion regime.
• Employing optical wave breaking as the primary nonlinear mechanism for supercontinuum generation.

Main Results:

• Successfully generated an octave-spanning supercontinuum from 960 to over 2500 nm.
• Utilized a short microwire length of only 3 mm.
• Achieved broadband generation with a low pulse energy of 150 pJ.

Conclusions:

• The developed chalcogenide microwire is a highly effective platform for low-noise supercontinuum generation.
• Optical wave breaking in all-normal dispersion microwires offers a promising route for compact broadband light sources.
• This technology has potential applications in spectroscopy, sensing, and telecommunications.