730 mW, 2-8 μm supercontinuum generation and the precise estimation of multi-pulse spectral evolution in the soft-glass fibers cascaded nonlinear system

Abstract

We experimentally demonstrate the 2-8 μm high-power supercontinuum generation and theoretically propose a statistical method for precise estimation of the multi-pulse spectral evolution in the ZBLAN and As2S3 fiber cascaded all-fiber structured nonlinear system. In the experiment, with the aid of the ultra-low loss fusion splice technology, high-efficiency fiber butt-coupling technology and precise thermal management technology, we obtained a record-breaking supercontinuum source with a spectrum spanning from 2 μm to 8 μm at a power of 730 mW. Considering the strong pulse splitting and soliton fission effects in fibers, to precisely estimate the multi-pulse spectral evolution in this system, we, for the first time, built a multi-pulse pump model with the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient method based multi-pulse selection mechanism. In combination with the existing approaches and some new programmatic work, finally, we verified that the simulation results are in good agreement with the experimental one.

All-fiber in-amplifier mid-infrared enhanced supercontinuum generation

“…The mainstream pumping proposal for all-fiber mid-infrared SC (MIR-SC) generation is adopting a ~1.5 μm nanosecond electrically modulated semiconductor laser as the pulse seed [4] . Another common technical route to obtain a mid-infrared SC is pumping fluoride fibers with amplified conventional ~2 μm mode-locked ultra-short pulse [5] .…”