Effect of cross-phase modulation on supercontinuum generated in microstructured fibers with sub-30 fs pulses

Effect of rotational Raman response on ultra-flat supercontinuum generation in gas-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fibers

We experimentally and numerically investigate flat supercontinuum generation in gas-filled anti-resonant guiding hollow-core photonic crystal fiber. By comparing results obtained with either argon or nitrogen we determine the role of the rotational Raman response in the supercontinuum formation. When using argon, a supercontinuum extending from 350 nm to 2 µm is generated through modulational instability. Although argon and nitrogen exhibit similar Kerr nonlinearity and dispersion, we find that the energy density of the continuum in the normal dispersion region is significantly lower when using nitrogen. Using numerical simulations, we find that due to the closely spaced rotational lines in nitrogen, gain suppression in the fundamental mode causes part of the pump pulse to be coupled into higher-order modes which reduces the energy transfer to wavelengths shorter than the pump.

Advances in mid-infrared spectroscopy enabled by supercontinuum laser sources

Supercontinuum sources are all-fiber pulsed laser-driven systems that provide high power spectral densities within ultra-broadband spectral ranges. The tailored process of generating broadband, bright, and spectrally flat supercontinua-through a complex interplay of linear and non-linear processes-has been recently pushed further towards longer wavelengths and has evolved enough to enter the field of mid-infrared (mid-IR) spectroscopy. In this work, we review the current state and perspectives of this technology that offers laser-like emission properties and instantaneous broadband spectral coverage comparable to thermal emitters. We aim to go beyond a literature review. Thus, we first discuss the basic principles of supercontinuum sources and then provide an experimental part focusing on the quantification and analysis of intrinsic emission properties such as typical power spectral densities, brightness levels, spectral stability, and beam quality (to the best of the authors' knowledge, the M² factor for a mid-IR supercontinuum source is characterized for the first time). On this basis, we identify key competitive advantages of these alternative emitters for mid-IR spectroscopy over state-of-the-art technologies such as thermal sources or quantum cascade lasers. The specific features of supercontinuum radiation open up prospects of improving well-established techniques in mid-IR spectroscopy and trigger developments of novel analytical methods and instrumentation. The review concludes with a structured summary of recent advances and applications in various routine mid-IR spectroscopy scenarios that have benefited from the use of supercontinuum sources.

Intracavity incoherent supercontinuum dynamics and rogue waves in a broadband dissipative soliton laser

Understanding dynamical complexity is one of the most important challenges in science. Significant progress has recently been made in optics through the study of dissipative soliton laser systems, where dynamics are governed by a complex balance between nonlinearity, dispersion, and energy exchange. A particularly complex regime of such systems is associated with noise-like pulse multiscale instabilities, where sub-picosecond pulses with random characteristics evolve chaotically underneath a much longer envelope. However, although observed for decades in experiments, the physics of this regime remains poorly understood, especially for highly-nonlinear cavities generating broadband spectra. Here, we address this question directly with a combined numerical and experimental study that reveals the physical origin of instability as nonlinear soliton dynamics and supercontinuum turbulence. Real-time characterisation reveals intracavity extreme events satisfying statistical rogue wave criteria, and both real-time and time-averaged measurements are in quantitative agreement with modelling.

In this work the authors perform a combined numerical and experimental study of noise-like pulse multiscale instabilities in dissipative laser systems. They reveal an underlying multiscale dynamics and report the observation of rogue wave events.

Broadband 200-nm second-harmonic generation in silicon in the telecom band

Silicon is well known for its strong third-order optical nonlinearity, exhibiting efficient supercontinuum and four-wave mixing processes. A strong second-order effect that is naturally inhibited in silicon can also be observed, for example, by electrically breaking the inversion symmetry and quasi-phase matching the pump and the signal. To generate an efficient broadband second-harmonic signal, however, the most promising technique requires matching the group velocities of the pump and the signal. In this work, we utilize dispersion engineering of a silicon waveguide to achieve group velocity matching between the pump and the signal, along with an additional degree of freedom to broaden the second harmonic through the strong third-order nonlinearity. We demonstrate that the strong self-phase modulation and cross-phase modulation in silicon help broaden the second harmonic by 200 nm in the O-band. Furthermore, we show a waveguide design that can be used to generate a second-harmonic signal in the entire near-infrared region. Our work paves the way for various applications, such as efficient and broadband complementary-metal oxide semiconductor based on-chip frequency synthesizers, entangled photon pair generators, and optical parametric oscillators.

Essentials of resonance-enhanced soliton-based supercontinuum generation

Supercontinuum generation is a key process for nonlinear tailored light generation and strongly depends on the dispersion of the underlying waveguide. Here we reveal the nonlinear dynamics of soliton-based supercontinuum generation in case the waveguide includes a strongly dispersive resonance. Assuming a gas-filled hollow core fiber that includes a Lorentzian-type dispersion term, effects such as multi-color dispersive wave emission and cascaded four-wave mixing have been identified to be the origin of the observed spectral broadening, greatly exceeding the bandwidths of corresponding non-resonant fibers. Moreover, we obtain large spectral bandwidth at low soliton numbers, yielding broadband spectra within the coherence limit. Due to the mentioned advantages, we believe the concept of resonance-enhanced supercontinuum generation to be highly relevant for future nonlinear light sources.

Supercontinuum generation in varying dispersion and birefringent silicon waveguide

Ability to selectively enhance the amplitude and maintain high coherence of the supercontinuum signal with long pulses is gaining significance. In this work, an extra degree of freedom afforded by varying the dispersion profile of a waveguide is utilized to selectively enhance supercontinuum. As much as 16 dB signal enhancement in the telecom window and 100 nm of wavelength extension is achieved with a cascaded waveguide, compared to a fixed dispersion waveguide. Waveguide tapering, in particular with increasing width, is determined to have a flatter and more coherent supercontinuum than a fixed dispersion waveguide when longer input pulses are used. Furthermore, due to the strong birefringence of an asymmetric silicon waveguide the supercontinuum signal is broadened by pumping simultaneously with both quasi-transverse electric (TE) and quasi-transverse magnetic (TM) mode in the anomalous dispersion regime. Thus, selective signal generation is obtained by controlling the dispersion for the two modes. Such waveguides offer several advantages over optical fiber as the variation in dispersion can be controlled with greater flexibility in an integrated platform. This work paves the way forward for various applications in fields ranging from medicine to telecom where specific wavelength windows need to be targeted.

Versatile dispersion characteristics of water solution of glycerine in selective filling of holes in photonic crystal fibers

Using a glycerine-water solution with various concentrations, we investigate the dispersion characteristics of photonic crystal fibers by selective filling of holes. Our analysis is based on a simple but accurate semi-vectorial solution of Helmholtz's equation by the finite difference method devised with a mode-field convergence technique and crosschecked by results with those from a deeply involved multipole method. Significantly, a better ultra-flatness but near-zero group velocity dispersion is revealed with a 20% glycerine-water solution that is superior to pure water of a very recent case when the holes of the first ring of the fiber are filled. This versatile effect in management of holes of identical diameter with liquid is expected to play a guiding role in studies of supercontinuum generation.

Observation of the stepwise blue shift of a dispersive wave preceding its trapping by a soliton

The trapping of a weak dispersive wave by an intense soliton is a complex process occurring at the early stage of supercontinuum generation. It is theoretically predicted to arise from multiple soliton-dispersive wave interactions, producing a stepwise frequency blue shift of the dispersive wave. We report here the first experimental evidence of this frequency blue shift using a tapered fiber which acts as a prism, allowing to disperse the blue spectral components in order to identify unambiguously each soliton-dispersive wave collision.

Efficiency of dispersive wave generation from a dual-frequency beat signal

The emission of dispersive waves (DWs) by temporal solitons can be described as a cascaded four-wave mixing process triggered by a pair of monochromatic continuous waves (CWs). We report experimental and numerical results demonstrating that the efficiency of this process is strongly and nontrivially affected by the frequency detuning of the CW pump lasers. We explain our results by showing that individual cycles of the input dual-frequency beat signal can evolve as higher-order solitons whose temporal compression and soliton fission govern the DW efficiency. Analytical predictions based on the detuning dependence of the soliton order are shown to be in excellent agreement with experimental and numerical observations.

Coherent fiber supercontinuum for biophotonics

Biophotonics and nonlinear fiber optics have traditionally been two independent fields. Since the discovery of fiber-based supercontinuum generation in 1999, biophotonics applications employing incoherent light have experienced a large impact from nonlinear fiber optics, primarily because of the access to a wide range of wavelengths and a uniform spatial profile afforded by fiber supercontinuum. However, biophotonics applications employing coherent light have not benefited from the most well-known techniques of supercontinuum generation for reasons such as poor coherence (or high noise), insufficient controllability, and inadequate portability. Fortunately, a few key techniques involving nonlinear fiber optics and femtosecond laser development have emerged to overcome these critical limitations. Despite their relative independence, these techniques are the focus of this review, because they can be integrated into a low-cost portable biophotonics source platform. This platform can be shared across many different areas of research in biophotonics, enabling new applications such as point-of-care coherent optical biomedical imaging.

Compressible octave spanning supercontinuum generation by two-pulse collisions

We demonstrate a novel method for supercontinuum generation in an optical fiber based on two-color pumping with a delay and a group velocity matching. The scheme relies on the enhanced cross-phase-modulation at an intensity induced refractive index barrier between a dispersive wave and a soliton. The generation mechanism neither incorporates soliton fission nor a modulation instability and therefore exhibits extraordinary coherence properties, enabling the temporal compression of octave bandwidth into a short pulse. Moreover, the properties of the supercontinuum are adjustable over a wide range in the frequency domain by suitable choice of the dispersive wave.

Soliton trapping of dispersive waves in photonic crystal fiber with two zero dispersive wavelengths

Based on the generalized nonlinear Schrödinger equation, we present a numerical study of trapping of dispersive waves by solitons during supercontinuum generation in photonic crystal fibers pumped with femtosecond pulses in the anomalous dispersion region. Numerical simulation results show that the generated supercontinuum is bounded by two branches of dispersive waves, namely blue-shifted dispersive waves (B-DWs) and red-shifted dispersive waves (R-DWs). We find a novel phenomenon that not only B-DWs but also R-DWs can be trapped by solitons across the zero-dispersion wavelength when the group-velocity matching between the soliton and the dispersive wave is satisfied, which may led to the generation of new spectral components via mixing of solitons and dispersive waves. Mixing of solitons with dispersive waves has been shown to play an important role in shaping not only the edge of the supercontinuum, but also its central part around the higher zero-dispersion wavelength. Further, we show that the phenomenon of soliton trapping of dispersive waves in photonic crystal fibers with two zero-dispersion wavelengths has a very close relationship with pumping power and the interval between two zero-dispersion wavelengths. In order to clearly display the evolution of soliton trapping of dispersive waves, the spectrogram of output pulses is observed using cross-correlation frequency-resolved optical gating technique (XFROG).

Experimental study of dispersion characteristics for a series of microstructured fibers for customized supercontinuum generation

We demonstrate an experimental study of the chromatic dispersion properties for a series of microstructured fibers (MSFs) dedicated for a supercontinuum generation. With white-light interferometry application we analyze experimentally how the small variations of structural parameters, i.e. an air-hole diameter and a lattice constant, influence dispersion characteristics in different groups of MSFs. Our study provides useful information on how to design the fiber which is less sensitive to the fabrication imperfections. Moreover those investigations are the initial step to the development of the customized or tunable supercontinuum light sources based on MSFs with slightly changed structural parameters which can generate light with a different spectrum range, adapted to a proper application.

A hollow beam supercontinuum generation by the supermode superposition in a GeO2 doped triangular-core photonic crystal fiber

A GeO2 doped triangular-core photonic-crystal fiber (PCF) is designed and fabricated to allow the generation of a hollow beam through a nonlinear-optical transformation by femtosecond pulses at 1040 nm from a high power Yb-doped PCF laser oscillator. The hollow beam supercontinuum is obtained at far field by adjusting incident light polarization to excite the high order supermode, behaving as a mode convertor. The supercontinuum ranging from 540 to 1540 nm is achieved with an average power of 1.04 W.

Control of third harmonic generation by plasma grating generated by two noncollinear IR femtosecond filaments

A plasma grating is formed by two femtosecond filaments, and the influence of probe filament on the plasma grating is shown. By using the plasma grating, the enhancement of the third harmonic (TH) generated from the probe filament is studied, and more than three orders of magnitude enhancement of TH generation is demonstrated as compared with that obtained from a single filament. The dependences of TH generation on the time delay, the spatial period of plasma grating, the relative polarization and the crossing position between the probe beam and the two pump beams are investigated. The spectral broadening of TH generated from the probe filament induced by the interaction between the probe filament and the plasma grating is also studied.

Periodic interactions between solitons and dispersive waves during the generation of non-coherent supercontinuum radiation

We present a numerical study of interactions between dispersive waves (DWs) and solitons during supercontinuum generation in photonic crystal fibers pumped with picosecond laser pulses. We show how the soliton-induced trapping potential evolves along the fiber and affects the dynamics of a DW-soliton pair. Individual frequency components of the DW periodically interact with the soliton resulting in stepwise frequency blue shifts. In contrast, the ensemble blue shifts of all frequency components in the DW appear to be quasi-continuous. The step size of frequency up-conversion and the temporal separation between subsequent soliton-DW interactions are governed by the potential well which confines the soliton-DW pair and which changes in time.

Supercontinuum generation with femtosecond self-healing Airy pulses

We report experiments and numerical simulations on supercontinuum generation with femtosecond Airy pulses in a highly nonlinear optical fiber. The ability of the Airy waveform to regenerate its dominant intensity peak results in the generation of distinct spectral features. Airy pulses and other self-healing temporal waveforms may be useful for the generation of spectra with desired properties.

Dynamics of Raman soliton during supercontinuum generation near the zero-dispersion wavelength of optical fibers

We observe unique dynamics of Raman soliton during supercontinuum process when an input pulse experiences initially normal group-velocity dispersion with a negative dispersion slope. In this situation, the blue components of the spectrum form a Raman soliton that moves faster than the input pulse and eventually decelerates because of Raman-induced frequency downshifting. In the time domain, the soliton trajectory bends and becomes vertical when the Raman shift ceases to occur as the spectrum of Raman soliton approaches the zero dispersion point. Parts of the red components of the pulse spectrum are captured by the Raman soliton through cross-phase modulation and they travel with it. The influence of soliton order, input chirp and dispersion slope on the dynamics of Raman soliton is discussed thoroughly.

Fiber-optic Cherenkov radiation in the few-cycle regime

Fiber-optic Cherenkov radiation has emerged as a wavelength conversion technique to achieve isolated spectrum in the visible wavelength range. Most published results have reinforced the impression that CR forms a narrowband spectrum with poor efficiency. We both theoretically and experimentally investigate fiber-optic Cherenkov radiation excited by few-cycle pulses. We introduce the coherence length to quantify the Cherenkov-radiation bandwidth and its dependence on propagation distance. Detailed numerical simulations verified by experimental results reveal three unique features that are absent when pumped with often-used, long pulses; that is, continuum generation (may span one octave in connection with the pump spectrum), high conversion efficiency (up to 40%), and broad bandwidth (70 nm experimentally obtained) for the isolated Cherenkov radiation spectrum. These merits allow achieving broadband visible-wavelength spectra from low-energy ultrafast sources which opens up new applications (e.g. precision calibration of astronomical spectrographs).

Optimum fiber tapers for increasing the power in the blue edge of a supercontinuum-group-acceleration matching

We demonstrate how the gradient of the tapering in a tapered fiber can significantly affect the trapping and blueshift of dispersive waves (DWs) by a soliton. By modeling the propagation of a fundamental 10 fs soliton through tapered fibers with varying gradients, it is shown that the soliton traps and blueshifts an increased fraction of the energy in its DW when the gradient is decreased. This is quantified by the group-acceleration mismatch between the soliton and DW at the entrance of the taper. These findings have direct implications for the achievable power in the blue edge of a supercontinuum generated in a tapered fiber and explain observations of a lack of power in the blue edge.

Control of pulse-to-pulse fluctuations in visible supercontinuum

Long-pulse supercontinuum sources are initiated by modulation instability and consequently suffer from stochastic shot-to-shot variations of their spectral power density. In this paper, we provide a measurement of pulse-to-pulse fluctuations over the whole supercontinuum spectrum, and we show that their spectral dependence follows the group index curve of the fiber. Then, we demonstrate a significant reduction of supercontinuum pulse-to-pulse fluctuations in the visible by using a photonic crystal fiber with longitudinally tailored guidance properties. We finally show numerically that this new source would allow a significant improvement of the signal-to-noise ratio in fluorescence microscopy.

Long wavelength extension of CW-pumped supercontinuum through soliton-dispersive wave interactions

A supercontinuum spanning over 700 nm with an average spectral power of 1.7 mW/nm and flatness of 6 dB was produced in a solid core, double zero dispersion wavelength photonic crystal fiber pumped with a high power, continuous-wave ytterbium fiber laser. The spectrum displays a strong feature centered around 1980 nm. Through numerical simulations we demonstrate that this feature is initially generated through the shedding of Cherenkov radiation by solitons at the second zero dispersion wavelength, and then extended by a four-wave mixing process between this generated dispersive component and other solitons forming the continuum.

Limitations of the linear Raman gain approximation in modeling broadband nonlinear propagation in optical fibers

We consider the accuracy of modeling ultrashort pulse propagation and supercontinuum generation in optical fibers based on the assumption of a material Raman response that varies linearly with frequency. Numerical simulations in silica fiber using the linear Raman gain approximation are compared with simulations using the full Raman response, and differences in the spectral, temporal and stability characteristics are considered. A major finding is that for conditions typical of many experiments, although the input pulses may satisfy the criteria where the linear gain approximation is valid, the subsequent evolution and breakup of the input pulse can rapidly lead to a situation where the linear model leads to severe inaccuracies. Numerical artifacts within the linear model inducing unphysical pulse collapse are also identified.

Efficient blue conversion from a 1064 nm microchip laser in long photonic crystal fiber tapers for fluorescence microscopy

Using a low-cost microchip laser and a long photonic crystal fiber taper, we report a supercontinuum source with a very efficient visible conversion, especially in the blue region (around 420 nm). About 30 % of the total average output power is located in the 350-600 nm band, which is of primary importance in a number of biophotonics applications such as flow cytometry or fluorescence imaging microscopy for instance. We successfully demonstrate the use of this visible-enhanced source for a three-color imaging of HeLa cells in wide-field microscopy.

Nonlinear photonic crystal fiber with a structured multi-component glass core for four-wave mixing and supercontinuum generation

We report about a new type of nonlinear photonic crystal fibers allowing broadband four-wave mixing and supercontinuum generation. The microstructured optical fiber has a structured core consisting of a rod of highly nonlinear glass material inserted in a silica tube. This particular structure enables four wave mixing processes with very large frequency detuning (>135 THz), which permitted the generation of a wide supercontinuum spectrum extending over 1650 nm after 2.15 m of propagation length. The comparison with results obtained from germanium-doped holey fibers confirms the important role of the rod material properties regarding nonlinear process and dispersion.

Rogue-wave-like characteristics in femtosecond supercontinuum generation

We experimentally study the characteristics of optical rogue waves in supercontinuum generation in the femtosecond regime. Specifically, the intensity histograms obtained from spectrally filtering the supercontinuum exhibit the L-shaped characteristics typical of extreme-value phenomena on both the long-wavelength and short-wavelength edges of the spectrum owing to cross-phase modulation and soliton-dispersive wave coupling. Furthermore, the form of the histogram on the long-wavelength edge varies from L-shaped to quasi-Gaussian as wavelengths closer to the pump are included in the filtered measurements. Our observations are in agreement with numerical simulations.

Optical frequency up-conversion by supercontinuum-free widely-tunable fiber-optic Cherenkov radiation

Spectrally-isolated narrowband Cherenkov radiation from commercial nonlinear photonic crystal fibers is demonstrated as an ultrafast optical source with a visible tuning range of 485-690 nm, which complementarily extends the near-infrared tuning range of 690-1020 nm from the corresponding femtosecond Ti:sapphire pump laser. Pump-tosignal conversion efficiency routinely surpasses 10%, enabling multimilliwatt visible output across the entire tuning range. Appropriate selection of fiber parameters and pumping conditions efficiently suppresses the supercontinuum generation typically associated with Cherenkov radiation.

Increasing the blue-shift of a supercontinuum by modifying the fiber glass composition

Supercontinuum light sources spanning into the ultraviolet- visible wavelength region are highly useful for applications such as fluorescence microscopy. A method of shifting the supercontinuum spectrum into this wavelength region has recently become well understood. The method relies on designing the group-velocity profile of the nonlinear fiber in which the supercontinuum is generated, so that red-shifted solitons are group-velocity matched to dispersive waves in the desired ultraviolet-visible wavelength region. The group-velocity profile of a photonic crystal fiber (PCF) can be engineered through the structure of the PCF, but this mostly modifies the group-velocity in the long-wavelength part of the spectrum. In this work, we first consider how the group-velocity profile can be engineered more directly in the short-wavelength part of the spectrum through alternative choices of the glass material from which the PCF is made. We then make simulations of supercontinuum generation in PCFs made of alternative glass materials. It is found that it is possible to increase the blue-shift of the generated supercontinuum by about 20 nm through a careful choice of glass composition, provided that the alternative glass composition does not have a significantly higher loss than silica in the near-infrared.

Efficient supercontinuum generations in silica suspended core fibers

We have experimentally studied supercontinuum generations in highly nonlinear suspended core silica fibers as alternatives to photonic crystal fibers. Octave-spanning spectrum can be easily generated at peak pump power levels as low as approximately 1.5 kW at 1 microm and approximately 1 kW at 800 nm, which effectively enables f ceo stabilization of mode-locked fiber lasers without further amplification. Experiments also confirm that the blue edge of the supercontinuum undergoes a two-phase growth process, an initial fast growth governed by phase-matched dispersive wave generation and a second slower growth governed by group-velocity-matched cross-phase modulation. We have further experimentally shown that the fundamental solitons generated from the initial fission process can be independent of pump powers and the orders which they are generated. Furthermore, while the fundamental soliton wavelength undergoes continuous red shift by Raman scattering, they continuously lose power to longer wavelength dispersive waves where phase-matching to this long wavelength dispersive wave is allowed and, otherwise, maintain its initial power where phase-matching to long wavelength dispersive wave is not allowed. We also demonstrated that total suppression of dispersive wave generation at short wavelength can be achieved in the absence of dispersion slope at the pump wavelength.

Visible cw-pumped supercontinuum

We report the experimental demonstration of a visible supercontinuum in the cw pumping regime. A 20 W ytterbium fiber laser at 1.06 microm is used to pump a photonic crystal fiber whose zero-dispersion wavelength decreases along the fiber length. Visible wavelengths are generated in the fundamental mode via trapping of dispersive waves by redshifted solitons.

Back-seeding of higher order gain processes in picosecond supercontinuum generation

In photonic crystal fibers with closely spaced zero dispersion wavelengths it is possible to have two pairs of four-wave mixing (FWM) gain peaks. Here, we demonstrate both numerically and experimentally how the outer four-wave mixing gain peaks can be used to produce a strong amplification peak in a picosecond supercontinuum. The method involves feeding back part of the output light of a SC source and time matching it with the pump light. In this way it is possible to produce a gain of over 20 dB near the FWM gain wavelengths.

Harmonic extended supercontinuum generation and carrier envelope phase dependent spectral broadening in silica nanowires

Numerical simulations are used to study the interaction dynamics between pump spectral broadening and third harmonic generation during supercontinuum generation in a highly nonlinear fused silica nanowire using sub-100 fs pump pulses. In particular, we show that the superposition of the generated third harmonic with the spectrally-broadened pump pulse exhibits significant dependence on the input pump carrier envelope phase, and we examine this dependence as a function of pulse duration and propagation distance.

Tailoring CW supercontinuum generation in microstructured fibers with two-zero dispersion wavelengths

We theoretically study broadband supercontinuum generation in photonic crystal fibers exhibiting two zero dispersion wavelengths and under continuous-wave pumping. We show that when the pump wavelength is located in between the zero-dispersion wavelengths, a wide and uniform spectral broadening is achieved through modulation instability, generation of both blue-shifted and red-shifted dispersive waves and subsequently through soliton self-frequency shift. This supercontinuum is therefore bounded by these two dispersive waves which allow the control of its bandwidth by a suitable tuning of the fiber dispersion. As a relevant example, we predict that broadband (1050-1600 nm) continuous-wave light can be generated in short lengths of microstructured fibers pumped by use of a 10-W Ytterbium fiber laser.

Dispersive wave blue-shift in supercontinuum generation

We numerically study dispersive wave emission during femtosecond-pumped supercontinuum generation in photonic crystal fibres. We show that dispersive waves are primarily generated over a short region of high temporal compression. Despite the apparent complexity of the pump pulse in this region, we show that the dynamics of dispersive wave generation are dominated by a single fundamental soliton. However, any straightforward application of the theory that is thought to describe the blue emission, considerably underestimates the frequency shift. We show that in fact the red-shift of the soliton, caused by spectral recoil from the growing dispersive wave, causes an additional blue-shift of the resonant frequency which is in good agreement with full simulations.

Four-wave mixing of solitons with radiation and quasi-nondispersive wave packets at the short-wavelength edge of a supercontinuum

We apply the recently developed theory of frequency generation by mixing of solitons and dispersive waves [Phys. Rev. E 72, 016619 (2005)] to explain the observed formation, quasi-trapping and frequency shift of the spectral peaks at the blue edge of supercontinua generated in silica-core photonic crystal fibers.

Interaction of an optical soliton with a dispersive wave

Scattering of a dispersive wave by optical solitons is studied experimentally in photonic crystal fibers in cases when the soliton and the dispersive wave have either identical or orthogonal polarization states. Observations of new resonant frequencies are reported. The experimental results are compared to numerical simulations and predictions from the recently derived wave vector matching conditions.

Ultrafast pulse retiming by cross-phase modulation in an anomalous-dispersion polarization-maintaining fiber

Retiming of signal pulses by orthogonally polarized control pulses copropagating in an anomalous-dispersion low-birefringence polarization-maintaining fiber is demonstrated. Through walk-off-free cross-phase modulation in a 500 m long fiber, optical pulses at a 10 GHz rate are retimed by as much as +/- 2 ps.

Supercontinuum generation by femtosecond single and dual wavelength pumping in photonic crystal fibers with two zero dispersion wavelengths

We investigate supercontinuum generation in photonic crystal fibers under femtosecond single and dual wavelength pumping experimentally and by numerical simulations. Details about the expansion of the blue but also the red side of the continuum due to cross-phase modulation (XPM) and transfer of energy to dispersive waves are revealed and experimentally confirmed. Additionally, simple guidelines are given to predicte the maximum bandwidth of supercontinuum generation only by the use of the dispersion curve of the fiber.

Nonlinear-optical spectral transformation of few-cycle laser pulses in photonic-crystal fibers

Photonic-crystal fibers with special dispersion profiles are shown to provide a high efficiency of spectral transformation of chirped sub-6-fs Ti:sapphire laser pulses. With the wavelength of zero group-velocity dispersion of the fiber lying within the broad spectrum of the input few-cycle pulse, the output spectra feature well-resolved spectral peaks, indicative of soliton self-frequency shift, four-wave mixing, and Cherenkov emission of dispersive waves. We demonstrate that up to 3% of radiation energy at the output of the fiber can be confined within a spectrally isolated soliton peak centered at , which is ideally suited as a seed for Nd:YAG- and ytterbium-based laser devices.

The role of pump incoherence in continuous-wave supercontinuum generation

Supercontinuum generation can be achieved in the continuous-wave regime with a few watts of pump power launched into kilometer-long fibers. High power spectral density broadband light sources can be obtained in this way. Using a generalized nonlinear Schrödinger equation model and an ensemble averaging procedure that takes into account the partially-coherent nature of the pump laser, we fully explain for the first time the spectral broadening mechanisms underlying this process. Our simulations and experiments confirm that continuous-wave supercontinuum generation involve Raman soliton dynamics and dispersive waves in a way akin to pulsed supercontinua. The Raman solitons are however generated with a wide distribution of parameters because they originate from the random phase and intensity fluctuations associated with the pump incoherence. This soliton distribution is averaged out by experimental measurements, which explains the remarkable smoothness of experimental continuous-wave supercontinuum spectra.

The role of the second zero-dispersion wavelength in generation of supercontinua and bright-bright soliton-pairs across the zero-dispersion wavelength

Supercontinuum generation with femtosecond pulses in photonic crystal fibers with two zero-dispersion wavelengths (ZDWs) is investigated numerically. The role of the higher ZDW is examined for 5 fiber designs with a nearly constant lower ZDW. It is found that the resulting spectrum is mainly determined by self-phase modulation in the first few mm of fiber, followed by soliton self-frequency shift and amplification of dispersive waves. It is demonstrated how femtosecond soliton pulses can be generated with any desired center wavelength in the 1020-1200 nm range by adjusting the fiber length. Further, the generation of a bright-bright soliton-pair from an initial single red-shifted soliton is found. The soliton-pair has one color in the anomalous dispersion region and the other color in the normal dispersion region, which has not previously been described for bright-bright soliton-pairs.

Cross-phase-modulation-induced instability in photonic-crystal fibers

Cross-phase-modulation-induced instability is identified as a significant mechanism for efficient parametric four-wave-mixing frequency conversion in photonic-crystal fibers. Fundamental-wavelength femtosecond pulses of a Cr, forsterite laser are used in our experiments to transform the spectrum of copropagating second-harmonic pulses of the same laser in a photonic-crystal fiber. Efficient generation of sidebands shifted by more than 80 THz with respect to the central frequency of the second harmonic is observed in the output spectrum of the probe field.

Theory of generation of new frequencies by mixing of solitons and dispersive waves in optical fibers

We develop a theory of the generation of new spectral components in optical fibers pumped with a solitonic pulse and a weak continuous wave (cw). We derive the wave number matching conditions for the above process and present an analytical method of finding the amplitudes of the generated waves. We discuss related effects of the depletion of the cw pump and spectral recoil on the soliton. We also point out examples of the generation of supercontinuum spectra in fibers, where mixing between solitons and dispersive waves plays an important role.

Tuning the frequency of ultrashort laser pulses by a cross-phase-modulation-induced shift in a photonic crystal fiber

Femtosecond pulses of fundamental Cr:forsterite laser radiation are used as a pump field to tune the frequency of copropagating second-harmonic pulses of the same laser through cross-phase modulation in a photonic crystal fiber. Sub-100-kW femtosecond pump pulses coupled into a photonic crystal fiber with an appropriate dispersion profile can shift the central frequency of the probe field by more than 100 nm, suggesting a convenient way to control propagation and spectral transformations of ultrashort laser pulses.

Route to broadband blue-light generation in microstructured fibers

We explore theoretically the possibility of generating broadband blue light by copropagating a short soliton pump pulse and a broader signal pulse in a microstructured fiber with a zero-dispersion wavelength located between the center wavelength of the pump and the signal pulses. We show that the unique properties of microstructured fibers should allow for broadening of the signal pulse's spectrum by as much as a factor of 50 through the conjugate action of cross-phase modulation and a soliton self-frequency shift. The physical mechanism that leads to this large spectral broadening is analyzed by use of an extended nonlinear Schrödinger equation.

Time-spectrally-resolved ultrafast nonlinear dynamics in small-core photonic crystal fibers: Experiment and modelling

Nonlinear dynamics of ultrashort optical pulses in the vicinity of the second zero-dispersion point of a small-core photonic crystal fiber is visualized and studied using cross-correlation frequency-resolved optical gating. New spectral features observed in the experiments match well with recent theoretical predictions of the generation of new frequencies via mixing of solitons and dispersive waves. Power- as well as length-dependent dynamics is obtained showing strong interaction between solitons and dispersive waves, soliton-soliton interaction, soliton stabilization against Raman self-frequency shift and Cherenkov continuum generation.