Mid-IR super-continuum generation

Abstract

A Mid-InfraRed FIber Laser (MIRFIL) has been developed that generates super-continuum covering the spectral range from 0.8 to 4.5 microns with a time-averaged power as high as 10.5W. The MIRFIL is an all-fiber integrated laser with no moving parts and no mode-locked lasers that uses commercial off-the-shelf parts and leverages the mature telecom/fiber optics platform. The MIRFIL power can be easily scaled by changing the repetition rate and modifying the erbium-doped fiber amplifier. Some of the applications using the super-continuum laser will be described in defense, homeland security and healthcare. For example, the MIRFIL is being applied to a catheter-based medical diagnostic system to detect vulnerable plaque, which is responsible for most heart attacks resulting from hardening-of-the-arteries or atherosclerosis. More generally, the MIRFIL can be a platform for selective ablation of lipids without damaging normal protein or smooth muscle tissue.

High-Power ZBLAN Glass Fiber Lasers: Review and Prospect

“…Therefore, using nanosecond pulse to generate supercontinuum is more scalable with recent advances of high-power fiber amplifiers. The average power of the supercontinuum was scaled up to 1.3 watts when a threestage fiber amplifier was used [185] and up to 10.5 watts when a more powerful power amplifier was used [186,187]. However, the short wave edge is limited to 0.8 μm and the plug-in efficiency is still low due to the small efficiency of erbium fiber amplifiers at 1.55 μm.…”

Low noise mid-infrared supercontinuum generation in multimode chalcogenide fiber (Conference Presentation)

“…Supercontinuum (SC) generation in the midinfrared has attracted significant interest over the past decade due to its wide range of potential applications from tissue imaging [1][2][3] and spectroscopy [4,5] to defense and security [6]. Supercontinuum sources are generally optimized in terms of spectral coverage or power for a particular application, but their noise characteristics are also of particular significance as large pulse-to-pulse fluctuations can severely degrade the performance and reduce the achievable resolution and contrast e.g.…”