Spectrally Flat Research Articles

Longitudinally thickness-controlled nanofilms on exposed core fibres enabling spectrally flattened supercontinuum generation

Nonlinear frequency conversion is a pathway to unlock undiscovered physics and implement tailored light sources for spectroscopy or medicine. A key challenge is the establishment of spectrally flat outputs, which is particularly demanding in the context of soliton-based light conversion at low pump energy. Here, we introduce the concept of controlling nonlinear frequency conversion by longitudinally varying resonances, allowing the shaping of soliton dynamics and achieving broadband spectra with substantial spectral flatness. Longitudinally varying resonances are realised by nanofilms with gradually changing thicknesses located on the core of an advanced microstructured fibre. Nanofilms with engineered thickness profiles are fabricated by tilted deposition, representing a waveguide-compatible approach to nano-fabrication, and inducing well-controlled resonances into the system, allowing unique dispersion control along the fibre length. Key features and dependencies are examined experimentally, showing improved bandwidth and spectral flatness via multiple dispersive wave generation and dispersion-assisted soliton Raman shifts while maintaining excellent pulse-to-pulse stability and coherence in simulations, suggesting the relevance of our findings for basic science as well as tailored light sources.

Spectrally Flat Supercontinuum Generation in a ZBLAN Fiber Pumped by Erbium-Doped Mode-Locked Fiber Laser

We have experimentally demonstrated the flat supercontinuum (SC) generation using a 10-m-long ZrF4-BaF2-LaF3-AlF3-NaF (ZBLAN) fluoride fiber pumped by an erbium-doped mode-locked fiber laser incorporating carbon-nanotube-based saturable absorbers. In order to improve the spectral flatness of SC, the standardized single-mode fiber with different lengths is connected to the output of the mode-locked fiber laser before the pulse amplification. The generated SC with ZBLAN fiber exhibits the best spectral flatness with fluctuation less than 1.29dB over the wavelength of 1571.8nm–1803.1nm, showing potential applications in optical sensing.

Watt-level and spectrally flat mid-infrared supercontinuum in fluoroindate fibers

We report on infrared supercontinuum (SC) generation in step-index fluoroindate-based fiber by using an all-fiber laser source. In comparison to widely used ZBLAN fibers for high-power mid-infrared (MIR) SC generation, fluoroindate fibers have multiphoton absorption edges at significantly longer wavelengths and can sustain similar intensities. Recent developments highlighted in the present study allowed the production of fluoroindate fibers with MIR background loss of 2 dB/km, which is similar to or even better than ZBLAN fibers. By using an all-fiber picosecond laser source based on an erbium amplifier followed by a thulium power amplifier, we demonstrate the generation of 1.0 W infrared SC spanning over 2.25 octaves from 1 μm to 5 μm. The generated MIR SC also exhibits high spectral flatness with a 6 dB spectral bandwidth from 1.91 μm to 4.77 μm and an average power two orders of magnitude greater than in previous demonstrations with a similar spectral distribution.

Spectrally flat supercontinuum generation in a holmium-doped ZBLAN fiber with record power ratio beyond 3 μm

A spectrally flat mid-infrared supercontinuum (MIR-SC) spanning 2.8–3.9 μm with a maximum output power of 411 mW was generated in a holmium-doped ZBLAN fiber amplifier (HDZFA). A broadband fiber-based SC covering the 2.4–3.2 μm region was designed to seed the amplifier. Benefiting from the broadband seed laser, the obtained SC had a high spectral flatness of 3 dB over the range of 2.93–3.70 μm (770 nm). A spectral integral showed that the SC power beyond 3 μm was 372 mW, i.e., a power ratio of 90.6% of the total power. This paper, to the best of our knowledge, not only demonstrates the first spectrally flat MIR-SC directly generated in fluoride fiber amplifiers, but also reports the highest power ratio beyond 3 μm obtained in rare-earth-doped fluoride fiber until now.

Broadband, Spectrally Flat, Graphene-based Terahertz Modulators.

Advances in the efficient manipulation of terahertz waves are crucial for the further development of terahertz technology, promising applications in many diverse areas, such as biotechnology and spectroscopy, to name just a few. Due to its exceptional electronic and optical properties, graphene is a good candidate for terahertz electro-absorption modulators. However, graphene-based modulators demonstrated to date are limited in bandwidth due to Fabry-Perot oscillations in the modulators' substrate. Here, a novel method is demonstrated to design electrically controlled graphene-based modulators that can achieve broadband and spectrally flat modulation of terahertz beams. In our design, a graphene layer is sandwiched between a dielectric and a slightly doped substrate on a metal reflector. It is shown that the spectral dependence of the electric field intensity at the graphene layer can be dramatically modified by optimizing the structural parameters of the device. In this way, the electric field intensity can be spectrally flat and even compensate for the dispersion of the graphene conductivity, resulting in almost invariant absorption in a wide frequency range. Modulation depths up to 76% can be achieved within a fractional operational bandwidth of over 55%. It is expected that our modulator designs will enable the use of terahertz technology in applications requiring broadband operation.

6.8 W all-fiber supercontinuum source at 1.9–2.5 μm

We report a simple method of generating a spectrally flat and high average power spectral density (up to 14 mW/nm) optical supercontinuum in the 1.95–2.5 μm range covering a transparency window of the atmosphere. The supercontinuum was generated from the Tm-doped all-fiber MOPA lasers. The average output power of the picosecond linear-cavity SESAM mode-locked seed lasers operating at 46 and 77 MHz was as low as 6.7 and 2.6 mW, respectively. The corresponding one-stage silica-based fiber amplifier generated a supercontinuum with 5.06 and 6.83 W average power, 550 and 500 nm bandwidths at −10 dB level, and 5 and 8 dB spectral flatness, respectively.

The generation of a broadband, spectrally flat supercontinuum extended to the mid-infrared with the use of conventional passive single-mode fibers and thulium-doped single-mode fibers pumped by 1.55 μm pulses

Flatly broadened supercontinuum (SC) generation spread toward the mid-infrared region is achieved in telecom-grade passive fibers (SMF-28) as well as in single-mode thulium-doped fibers pumped by 1 ns pulses at a wavelength of 1550 nm. Using only a piece of single-mode fiber (SMF) as a nonlinear medium the SC spread from ∼1300 to 2500 nm with an output power of up to 2 W. A spectrum flatness variation below 5 dB in a span of 640 nm (from 1.6 to 2.24 μm) and a corresponding spectral density of ∼1.1 mW nm−1 were obtained. Using a single-mode silica Tm-doped fiber, the SC cut-off wavelength was extended to 2.65 μm. For this case, broadband mid-IR radiation with a <5 dB spectral flatness in the wavelength interval ranging from 1.95 to 2.51 μm (spectral span of 560 nm) was demonstrated. The output average power was over 1 W out of which ∼85% was in a band of >1.9 μm, which is, to the best of our knowledge, the highest average power of an SC generated directly from a single-mode Tm-doped fiber.

Continuous Wave Supercontinuum Generation Through Pumping in the Normal Dispersion Region for Spectral Flatness

We demonstrate the generation of a spectrally flat continuous wave supercontinuum by pumping deep in the normal dispersion region. A Raman cascade forms up to the anomalous dispersion region, where modulation instability supercontinuum dynamics are initiated. The Raman cascade seeds the frequency up-shifted part of the continuum, leading to a spectral flatness of 5 dB from 1.15 to 2.15.

Evaluation of a pyroelectric detector with a carbon multiwalled nanotube black coating in the infrared

The performance of a pyroelectric detector with a carbon multiwalled nanotube coating was evaluated in the 0.9-14 microm wavelength range. The relative spectral responsivity of this detector was shown to be flat over most of the wavelength range examined, and the spectral flatness was shown to be comparable to the best infrared black coatings currently available. This finding is promising because black coatings with spectrally flat absorbance profiles are usually associated with the highest absorbance values. The performance of the detector (in terms of noise equivalent power and specific detectivity) was limited by the very thick (250 microm thick) LiNbO3 pyroelectric crystal onto which the coating was deposited. The responsivity of this detector was shown to be linear in the 0.06-2.8 mW radiant power range, and its spatial uniformity was comparable to that of other pyroelectric detectors that use different types of black coating. The carbon nanotube coatings were reported to be much more durable than other infrared black coatings, such as metal blacks, that are commonly used to coat thermal detectors in the infrared. This, in combination with their excellent spectral flatness, suggests that carbon nanotube coatings appear extremely promising for thermal detection applications in the infrared.