Maximizing the bandwidth while minimizing the spectral fluctuations using supercontinuum generation in photonic crystal chalcogenide fibers

Abstract

Supercontinuum generation in the mid-infrared (mid-IR) spectrum has a broad array of potential applications in medicine, environmental sensing, and defense. Mid-IR sources play a crucial role in defending aircraft against missile attacks [1]. It is desirable to have a source that acts like a mid-IR “light bulb” to produce a broadband, flat, and incoherent spectrum. In work to date, we have demonstrated that it is possible to obtain a bandwidth of 4 μm in As₂Se₃ chalcogenide hexagonal photonic crystal fibers that are pumped at 2.5 μm with pulse durations that are 500 fs or longer and pump peak powers of 1 kW or more with careful design of the fiber parameters [2]. We have also shown that it is possible to put more than 25% of the power in the range of 3-5 μm in As₂Se₃ chalcogenide fibers with a pump at 2 μm [3].