abstract

• We present a systematic experimental study of supercontinuum (SC) spectra produced by propagating noise-like pulses (NLPs) from an erbium-doped figure-eight laser through sections of different lengths of standard single-mode fibre (SMF) and of high-nonlinearity fibre (HNLF), as well as their combinations. With an average input power that does not exceed 35 mW, very broad and smooth SC spectra extending over several hundreds of nm are typically observed, even when only SMF is used. However, maximal broadening and flatness are obtained through a section of about 300 m of SMF followed by 50 m of HNLF; the spectrum then spans from ∼1260 nm up to ∼2070 nm, with a bandwidth of 431 nm at 5.7 dB from the maximum (over 800 nm at 20 dB). Our analysis indicates that nonlinear processes are still operating even after propagation through several hundreds of meters of fibre, extending and flattening the spectrum, its maximal bandwidth being eventually limited by the strong fibre attenuation in the 2 μm region. © 2017 Astro Ltd.

authors

• Bello Jimenez Miguel Ángel
• Bracamontes-Rodriguez Y.
• García-Sánchez E.
• Hernandez-Garcia J.C.
• Kuzin E.A.
• Lauterio-Cruz J.P.
• Pottiez O.

publication date

• 2017-01-01

published in

• Laser Physics  Journal

keywords

• noise-like pulses; nonlinear waveguides; stimulated Raman scattering; ultrafast processes Bandwidth; Optical pumping; Single mode fibers; Stimulated Raman scattering; Supercontinuum generation; Waveguides; Comparative studies; Erbium doped; High nonlinearity; noise-like pulses; Nonlinear process; Nonlinear waveguides; Supercontinuum; Ultrafast process; Fibers

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

• 10.1088/1555-6611/aa6f6c

start page

end page

volume

• 27

issue

• 6