We present a new spatial-spectral mapping technique permitting to measure the beam intensity at the output of a graded-index (GRIN) multimode fiber with sub-nanometric spectral resolution. We apply this method to visualize the fine structure of the beam shape of a sideband generated at 1870 nm by geometric parametric instability (GPI) in a GRIN fiber. After spatial-spectral characterization, we amplify the GPI sideband with a Tm-doped fiber amplifier to obtain a microjoule-scale picosecond pump whose spectrum is finally broadened in a segment of InF3 optical fiber to achieve supercontinuum ranging from 1.7 {mu}m up to 3.4 {mu}m
We demonstrate the generation of a low-noise, octave-spanning mid-infrared supercontinuum from 1700 to 4800 nm by injecting femtosecond pulses into the normal dispersion regime of a multimode step-index chalcogenide fiber with 100 $mu$m core diameter. We conduct a systematic study of the intensity noise across the supercontinuum spectrum and show that the initial fluctuations of the pump laser are at most amplified by a factor of three. We also perform a comparison with the noise characteristics of an octave-spanning supercontinuum generated in the anomalous dispersion regime of a multimode fluoride fiber with similar core size and show that the all-normal dispersion supercontinuum in the multimode chalcogenide fiber has superior noise characteristics. Our results open up novel perspective for many practical applications such as long-distance remote sensing where high power and low noise are paramount.
We report the spatial beam self-cleaning in bi-tapered conventional multimode fibers (MMFs) with different tapered lengths. Through the introduction of the bi-tapered structure in MMFs, the input beam with poor beam quality from a high-power fiber laser can be converted to a centered, bell-shaped beam in a short length, due to the strengthened nonlinear modes coupling. It is found that the bi-tapered MMF with longer tapered length at the same waist diameter shows better beam self-cleaning effect and larger spectral broadening. The obtained results offer a new method to improve the beam quality of high-power laser at low cost. Besides, it may be interesting for manufacturing bi-tapered MMF-based devices to obtain the quasi-fundamental mode beam in spatiotemporal mode-locked fiber lasers.
The characterization of the complex spatiotemporal dynamics of optical beam propagation in nonlinear multimode fibers requires the development of advanced measurement methods, capable of capturing the real-time evolution of beam images. We present a new space-time mapping technique, permitting the direct detection, with picosecond temporal resolution, of the intensity from repetitive laser pulses over a grid of spatial samples from a magnified image of the output beam. By using this time-resolved mapping, we provide the first unambiguous experimental observation of instantaneous intrapulse nonlinear coupling processes among the modes of a graded index fiber.
We experimentally demonstrate that pumping a graded-index multimode fiber with sub-ns pulses from a microchip Nd:YAG laser leads to spectrally flat supercontinuum generation with a uniform bell-shaped spatial beam profile extending from the visible to the mid-infrared at 2500,nm. We study the development of the supercontinuum along the multimode fiber by the cut-back method, which permits us to analyze the competition between the Kerr-induced geometric parametric instability and stimulated Raman scattering. We also performed a spectrally resolved temporal analysis of the supercontinuum emission.
In this paper, we report the design and fabrication of a highly birefringent polarization-maintaining photonic crystal fiber (PM-PCF) made from chalcogenide glass, and its application to linearly-polarized supercontinuum (SC) generation in the mid-infrared region. The PM fiber was drawn using the casting method from As38Se62 glass which features a transmission window from 2 to 10 $mu m$ and a high nonlinear index of 1.13.10$^{-17}$m$^{2}$W$^{-1}$. It has a zero-dispersion wavelength around 4.5 $mu m$ and, at this wavelength, a large birefringence of 6.10$^{-4}$ and consequently strong polarization maintaining properties are expected. Using this fiber, we experimentally demonstrate supercontinuum generation spanning from 3.1-6.02 $mu m$ and 3.33-5.78 $mu m$ using femtosecond pumping at 4 $mu m$ and 4.53 $mu m$, respectively. We further investigate the supercontinuum bandwidth versus the input pump polarization angle and we show very good agreement with numerical simulations of the two-polarization model based on two coupled generalized nonlinear Schrodinger equations.