Variable repetition rate supercontinuum pulses
First Claim
1. A method of providing optical supercontinuum pulses, comprising:
- generating optical pump pulses with an optical pump source;
launching optical pump pulses into a nonlinear optical element comprising an optical fiber;
generating optical supercontinuum pulses from the optical pump pulses via spectral broadening within the optical fiber;
selectively providing a plurality of different repetition rates for the optical pump pulses so as to generate optical supercontinuum pulses having different repetition rates; and
providing nominally identical spectral broadening of the optical pump pulses having the different repetition rates.
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Abstract
A method of providing optical supercontinuum pulses can comprise generating optical pump pulses with an optical pump laser, the optical pump pulses having a pump pulse repetition rate; launching optical pump pulses into a nonlinear optical element comprising an optical fiber; generating optical supercontinuum pulses from the optical pump pules via spectral broadening within the optical fiber; selectively providing a plurality of different repetition rates for the optical pump pulses so as to generate optical supercontinuum pulses having different repetition rates; and providing nominally identical spectral broadening of the optical supercontinuum pules having the different repetition rates.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. A method of providing optical supercontinuum pulses, comprising:
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generating optical pump pulses with an optical pump source; launching optical pump pulses into a nonlinear optical element comprising an optical fiber; generating optical supercontinuum pulses from the optical pump pulses via spectral broadening within the optical fiber; selectively providing a plurality of different repetition rates for the optical pump pulses so as to generate optical supercontinuum pulses having different repetition rates; and providing nominally identical spectral broadening of the optical pump pulses having the different repetition rates. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method of providing optical supercontinuum pulses, comprising:
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generating optical pump pulses with an optical pump source, an optical pump pulse having a pulse energy; launching optical pump pulses into a nonlinear optical element comprising an optical fiber; generating optical supercontinuum pulses from the optical pump pulses via spectral broadening within the optical fiber; selectively providing a plurality of different repetition rates for the optical pump pulses so as to generate optical supercontinuum pulses having different repetition rates; and wherein the pulse energy is fixed as the pulse to pulse separation is increased with reducing repetition rate. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A supercontinuum pulse source, comprising:
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an optical pump source for generating optical pump pulses; the optical pump pulses having a selectively variable pump pulse repetition rate so that optical pump pulses can have different repetition rates; a nonlinear optical element comprising an optical fiber arranged to receive the optical pump pulses and spectrally broaden the optical pump pulses to generate optical supercontinuum pulses; wherein the optical pump pulses having different repetition rates generate optical supercontinuum pulses having different repetition rates; and wherein optical pump pulses having different repetition rates are nominally identically spectrally broadened by the nonlinear optical element.
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19. A supercontinuum pulse source, comprising:
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an optical pump source operable to generate optical pump pulses, an optical pump pulse having a pump pulse energy; a nonlinear optical element comprising an optical fiber arranged to receive the optical pump pulses and spectrally broaden the optical pump pulses to generate optical supercontinuum pulses; the optical pump pulses further comprising a plurality of different repetition rates, wherein the optical pump pulses having different repetition rates generate optical supercontinuum pulses having different repetition rates; wherein the optical pulse energy is fixed as the pulse to pulse separation is increased with reducing repetition rate.
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Specification