Compact supercontinuum source for the visible using gain-switched Ti:Sapphire laser as pump

Abstract

We demonstrate the use of a miniature gain-switched Ti:Sapphire laser for efficient generation of visible supercontinuum light in a highly nonlinear microstructured optical fiber. This allows for a compact setup that puts out nanosecond pulses of light covering the spectral range from 410 to 1300 nm. The source offers a low-cost alternative to the mode-locked-laser-pumped systems in the generation of visible supercontinuum light.

Keywords

• supercontinuum generation
• gain-switching
• nonlinear fiber optics