Optical supercontinuum radiation, a special kind of white light, has found numerous applications in scientific research and technology. This bright, broadband radiation can be generated from nearly monochromatic light through the cooperative action of multiple nonlinear effects. Unfortunately, supercontinuum radiation is plagued by large spectral and temporal fluctuations owing to the spontaneous initiation of the generation process. While these fluctuations give rise to fascinating behavior in the form of optical rogue waves [1], they impede many critical applications of supercontinuum. Here, we introduce, and experimentally demonstrate, a powerful means of control over supercontinuum generation by stimulating the process with a very weak optical seed signal [2]. This minute addition significantly reduces the input power threshold for the process and dramatically increases the stability of the resulting radiation. This effect represents an optical tipping point, as the controlled addition of a specialized, but extraordinarily weak perturbation powerfully impacts a much stronger optical field, inducing a drastic transition in the optical system.
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