Infrared supercontinuum generated in concatenated InF₃ and As₂Se₃ fibers

Area of Science:

• Nonlinear optics
• Materials science
• Laser physics

Background:

• Supercontinuum generation is crucial for various spectroscopic applications.
• Fluoride and chalcogenide fibers offer unique nonlinear properties for light generation.
• Concatenated fiber schemes can extend spectral coverage and enhance output power.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate infrared supercontinuum (SC) generation in concatenated fluoride and As2Se3 fibers.
• To compare the performance of ZBLAN and InF3 fluoride fibers in a concatenated setup.
• To optimize fiber lengths for maximum spectral breadth and flatness.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing an all-fiber laser source with erbium and thulium amplifiers for pumping.
• Employing a nonlinear propagation scheme in step-index fluoride (ZBLAN, InF3) and As2Se3 fibers.
• Systematically varying the length of the InF3 fiber to achieve optimal SC generation.

Main Results:

• Successfully generated an infrared supercontinuum spanning from 1.4 μm to 6.4 μm.
• Achieved a maximum output power of 200 mW for the generated supercontinuum.
• Demonstrated high spectral flatness across the broad generated spectrum.
• Identified optimized lengths for InF3 fiber in the concatenated scheme.

Conclusions:

• Concatenated fluoride and As2Se3 fibers are effective for broadband infrared SC generation.
• Optimizing fiber length, particularly for InF3, is key to achieving broad and flat supercontinuum spectra.
• The developed system offers a promising source for applications requiring wide-ranging infrared light.