Abstract
We demonstrate supercontinuum generation in a PCF pumped by a gain-switched high-power continuous wave (CW) fiber laser. The pulses generated by gain-switching have a peak power of more than 700 W, a duration around 200 ns, and a repetition rate of 200 kHz giving a high average power of almost 30 W. By coupling such a pulse train into a commercial nonlinear photonic crystal fiber, a supercontinuum is generated with a spectrum spanning from 500 to 2250 nm, a total output power of 12 W, and an infrared flatness of 6 dB over a bandwidth of more than 1000 nm with a power density above 5 dBm/nm (3 mW/nm). This is considerably broader than when operating the same system under CW conditions. The presented approach is attractive due to the high power, power scalability, and reduced system complexity compared to picosecond-pumped supercontinuum sources.
Highlights
Supercontinuum sources based on the extreme broadening of laser pulses in nonlinear photonic crystal fibers (PCF) have been predicted to be a very interesting technology in the scientific as well as the industrial communities
We demonstrate supercontinuum generation in a PCF pumped by a gain-switched high-power continuous wave (CW) fiber laser
The pulses generated by gain-switching have a peak power of more than 700 W, a duration around 200 ns, and a repetition rate of 200 kHz giving a high average power of almost 30 W
Summary
Supercontinuum sources based on the extreme broadening of laser pulses in nonlinear photonic crystal fibers (PCF) have been predicted to be a very interesting technology in the scientific as well as the industrial communities. A pulsed laser is used for pumping a nonlinear PCF, but by using a continuous wave (CW) high-power fiber laser, the complexity of the system is reduced, and a higher average power and power spectral density can be obtained. The drawback of this system is the reduced peak power, which leads to less broadening and the need for longer fiber lengths. In state-of-the-art CW supercontinuum generation (SCG) pump powers of 100 W is routinely used and even a 400 W fiber laser has been tested [7,8,9,10,11].
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