All fiber low noise supercontinuum source
First Claim
1. An optical fiber suitable for generation of a supercontinuum spectrum at an output end of the fiber when pulses of light at a certain wavelength from a light source are launched into an input end of the fiber, comprising:
- a plurality of optical fiber sections each formed of highly non-linear fiber (HNLF) and having a zero dispersion wavelength that is within +/−
200 nanometers (nm) of said certain wavelength, and each of the fiber sections has a different dispersion at said certain wavelength; and
each of the fiber sections has an effective area (Aeff) of between 5 μ
m2 and 15 μ
m2 at said certain wavelength, a dispersion slope of between −
0.04 ps/nm2-km and 0.04 ps/nm2-km at said certain wavelength, and a nonlinear propagation coefficient (γ
) of at least 5 W−
1km−
1; and
the fiber sections are operatively connected in series with one another from the input end of the fiber to the output end of the fiber.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An optical fiber suitable for generation of a supercontinuum spectrum when light pulses of femtosecond (10−15 sec.) duration are launched at a certain wavelength into the fiber. The fiber includes a number of sections of highly non-linear fiber (HNLF) wherein each section exhibits a different dispersion at the wavelength of the launched light pulses. The fiber sections are joined, for example, by fusion splicing the sections in series with one another so that the dispersions of the sections decrease from an input end to an output end of the fiber. In the disclosed embodiment, a low noise, coherent supercontinuum spanning more than one octave is generated at the output end of the fiber when pulses of light of 188 fs duration are launched into the fiber at a repetition rate of 33 MHz and with an energy of three nanojoules per pulse.
86 Citations
17 Claims
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1. An optical fiber suitable for generation of a supercontinuum spectrum at an output end of the fiber when pulses of light at a certain wavelength from a light source are launched into an input end of the fiber, comprising:
-
a plurality of optical fiber sections each formed of highly non-linear fiber (HNLF) and having a zero dispersion wavelength that is within +/−
200 nanometers (nm) of said certain wavelength, and each of the fiber sections has a different dispersion at said certain wavelength; and
each of the fiber sections has an effective area (Aeff) of between 5 μ
m2 and 15 μ
m2 at said certain wavelength, a dispersion slope of between −
0.04 ps/nm2-km and 0.04 ps/nm2-km at said certain wavelength, and a nonlinear propagation coefficient (γ
) of at least 5 W−
1km−
1; and
the fiber sections are operatively connected in series with one another from the input end of the fiber to the output end of the fiber. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A supercontinuum source, comprising:
-
a source of light pulses having a certain wavelength and a known pulse duration and repetition rate;
an optical fiber including a plurality of fiber sections each formed of highly non-linear fiber (HNLF) and having a zero dispersion wavelength that is within +/−
200 nanometers (nm) of said certain wavelength, and each of the fiber sections has a different dispersion at said certain wavelength;
each of the fiber sections has an effective area (Aeff) of between 5 μ
m2 and 15 μ
m2 at said certain wavelength, a dispersion slope of between −
0.04 ps/nm2-km and 0.04 ps/nm2-km at said certain wavelength, and a nonlinear propagation coefficient (γ
) of at least 5 W−
1km−
1;
the fiber sections are operatively connected in series with one another from an input end of the fiber to an output end of the optical fiber; and
the input end of the optical fiber is operatively connected to the source of light pulses. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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Specification