Mid-infrared supercontinuum generation with a record-breaking spectral coverage of 1.4–13.3 µm is demonstrated by launching intense ultra-short pulses into short pieces of ultra-high numerical aperture step-index chalcogenide glass optical fibre consisting of a GaAsSe cladding and an As2Se3 core.

Mid-infrared supercontinuum covering the 1.4–13.3 μm molecular fingerprint region using ultra-high NA chalcogenide step-index fibre

A low-loss suspended core As(38)Se(62) fiber with core diameter of 4.5 μm and a zero-dispersion wavelength of 3.5 μm was used for mid-infrared supercontinuum generation. The dispersion of the fiber was measured from 2.9 to 4.2 μm and was in good correspondence with the calculated dispersion. An optical parametric amplifier delivering 320 fs pulses with a peak power of 14.8 kW at a repetition rate of 21 MHz was used to pump 18 cm of suspended core fiber at different wavelengths from 3.3 to 4.7 μm. By pumping at 4.4 μm with a peak power of 5.2 kW coupled to the fiber a supercontinuum spanning from 1.7 to 7.5 μm with an average output power of 15.6 mW and an average power >5.0 μm of 4.7 mW was obtained.

https://orbit.dtu.dk/files/105418105/2015_OptExp_Moeller_MIR_SCG_ANU.pdf

Multi-milliwatt mid-infrared supercontinuum generation in a suspended core chalcogenide fiber

We theoretically demonstrate a novel approach for generating Mid-InfraRed SuperContinuum (MIR SC) by using concatenated fluoride and chalcogenide glass fibers pumped with a standard pulsed Thulium (Tm) laser (TFWHM=3.5ps, P0=20kW, νR=30MHz, and Pavg=2W). The fluoride fiber SC is generated in 10m of ZBLAN spanning the 0.9–4.1μm SC at the −30dB level. The ZBLAN fiber SC is then coupled into 10cm of As2Se3 chalcogenide Microstructured Optical Fiber (MOF) designed to have a zero-dispersion wavelength (λZDW) significantly below the 4.1μm InfraRed (IR) edge of the ZBLAN fiber SC, here 3.55μm. This allows the MIR solitons in the ZBLAN fiber SC to couple into anomalous dispersion in the chalcogenide fiber and further redshift out to the fiber loss edge at around 9μm. The final 0.9–9μm SC covers over 3 octaves in the MIR with around 15mW of power converted into the 6–9μm range.

/pdf/thulium-pumped-mid-infrared-0-9-9mm-supercontinuum-3wt06b8onm.pdf

Thulium pumped mid-infrared 0.9-9μm supercontinuum generation in concatenated fluoride and chalcogenide glass fibers.

We report high power mid-infrared (mid-IR) supercontinuum (SC) generation in a single-mode ZBLAN (ZrF4-BaF2-LaF3-AlF3-NaF) fiber with up to 21.8 W average output power from 1.9 to beyond 3.8 μm pumped by amplified picosecond pulses from a single-mode thulium-doped fiber (TDF) master oscillator power amplifier (MOPA). The optical-optical conversion efficiency from the 793 nm pump laser of the last stage thulium-doped fiber amplifier (TDFA) to mid-IR SC output is 17%. It is, to the best of our knowledge, the highest average power mid-IR SC generation from a ZBLAN fiber to date.

High power mid-infrared supercontinuum generation in a single-mode ZBLAN fiber with up to 21.8 W average output power

We present numerical modeling of mid-infrared (MIR) supercontinuum generation (SCG) in dispersion-optimized chalcogenide (CHALC) step-index fibres (SIFs) with exceptionally high numerical aperture (NA) around one, pumped with mode-locked praseodymium-doped (Pr3+) chalcogenide fibre lasers. The 4.5um laser is assumed to have a repetition rate of 4MHz with 50ps long pulses having a peak power of 4.7kW. A thorough fibre design optimisation was conducted using measured material dispersion (As-Se/Ge-As-Se) and measured fibre loss obtained in fabricated fibre of the same materials. The loss was below 2.5dB/m in the 3.3–9.4μm region. Fibres with 8 and 10μm core diameters generated an SC out to 12.5 and 10.7μm in less than 2m of fibre when pumped with 0.75 and 1kW, respectively. Larger core fibres with 20μm core diameters for potential higher power handling generated an SC out to 10.6μm for the highest NA considered but required pumping at 4.7kW as well as up to 3m of fibre to compensate for the lower nonlinearities. The amount of power converted into the 8–10μm band was 7.5 and 8.8mW for the 8 and 10μm fibres, respectively. For the 20μm core fibres up to 46mW was converted.

/pdf/mid-infrared-supercontinuum-generation-to-12-5mm-in-large-na-4uizs9fliw.pdf

Mid-infrared supercontinuum generation to 12.5μm in large NA chalcogenide step-index fibres pumped at 4.5μm

Mid-infrared sources are a key enabling technology for various applications such as remote chemical sensing, defense communications and countermeasures, and bio-photonic diagnostics and therapeutics. Conventional mid-IR sources include optical parametric amplifiers, quantum cascade lasers, synchrotron and free electron lasers. An all-fiber approach to generate a high power, single mode beam with extremely wide (1μm-5μm) and simultaneous wavelength coverage has significant advantages in terms of reliability (no moving parts or alignment), room temperature operation, size, weight, and power efficiency. Here, we report single mode, high power extended wavelength coverage (1μm to 5μm) supercontinuum generation using a tellurite-based dispersion managed nonlinear fiber and an all-fiber based short pulse (20 ps), single mode pump source. We have developed this mid IR supercontinuum source based on highly purified solid-core tellurite glass fibers that are waveguide engineered for dispersion-zero matching with Tm-doped pulsed fiber laser pumps. The conversion efficiency from 1922nm pump to mid IR (2μm-5μm) supercontinuum is greater than 30%, and approaching 60% for the full spectrum. We have achieved > 1.2W covering from 1μm to 5μm with 2W of pump. In particular, the wavelength region above 4μm has been difficult to cover with supercontinuum sources based on ZBLAN or chalcogenide fibers. In contrast to that, our nonlinear tellurite fibers have a wider transparency window free of unwanted absorption, and are highly suited for extending the long wavelength emission above 4μm. We achieve spectral power density at 4.1μm already exceeding 0.2mW/nm and with potential for higher by scaling of pump power.

Mid-IR supercontinuum generation in ultra-low loss, dispersion-zero shifted tellurite glass fiber with extended coverage beyond 4.5 μm

Mid Infrared (MIR) fiber optics has gained a great deal of interest over the past several decades. Applications range from passive transport to fiber lasers and nonlinear applications. These fibers have found use in a wide array of fields such as sensing, military countermeasures, scientific instrumentation, medical instrumentation, and in research laboratories. As with all fiber development there is a continual urge to seek better performance characteristics including transparency over a wide wavelength range, corrosion resistance, high power handling and low loss. We report on development of tellurite glass fibers displaying exceptionally high performance for various applications including wide band, low loss passive transport for mid IR, high efficiency, wide wavelength range and high power supercontinuum generation from visible to MIR wavelengths >4.5um, and active doping in fibers for use in laser cooling. High performance in each of these areas of interest has been brought about by development of a stable glass formulation and advanced processing techniques to remove impurities ions, entrapped hydroxyl, and scatter centers which allow fibers to be made with exceptionally low losses ~0.2dB/m.

Chris Smith

Papers

Mid-IR supercontinuum generation in ultra-low loss, dispersion-zero shifted tellurite glass fiber with extended coverage beyond 4.5 μm

Low loss, wide transparency, robust tellurite glass fibers for mid-IR (2 - 5 μm) applications