All-fiber ultra-short super-continuum generation and characters

Super-continuum (SC) is widely used in coherent photography technology, optical spectroscopy analysis, interferometry, etc because of its flat and broad spectrum, high spatial coherence and high power. Super-continuum generation could be realized on theory by ultra-short pulse laser getting through the high nonlinear medium, accompany with self-phase modulation (SPM), stimulated Raman scattering (SRS), four-wave mixing (FWM). With the development of fiber technology, Yb-doped ultra-short pulse fiber laser, which has high peak power, high optic-to-optic efficiency, compact structure and small volume was elected as the pump source, and high nonlinear photonic crystal fiber (PCF) as the nonlinear medium for SC. In this paper, a self-made amplified mode-locked pulse was coupled into a 10m PCF, with 1 040 nm zero dispersion point, to generate 8.13W super-continuum by fusing method, during which the key parameters like discharge time, discharge interval, splice loss are seriously optimized to keep the fusing quality well.