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

Abstract

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.

Keywords

Flat supercontinuum / ZBLAN / mode-locked fiber laser

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