Recent advances in supercontinuum generation in specialty optical fibers [Invited]

TL;DR

This review discusses recent progress in supercontinuum generation within specialty optical fibers, highlighting advances in extending wavelength coverage, improving stability, and expanding applications across UV to MIR regions.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of recent developments in fiber-based supercontinuum sources across various specialty fibers and wavelength ranges.

Findings

Extended wavelength coverage towards 2-20 μm and down to 100 nm.

Enhanced stability, noise, and coherence of supercontinuum sources.

Development of new fiber types for specific spectral regions.

Abstract

The physics and applications of fiber-based supercontinuum (SC) sources have been a subject of intense interest over the last decade, with significant impact on both basic science and industry. New uses for SC sources are also constantly emerging due to their unique properties that combine high brightness, multi-octave frequency bandwidth, fiber delivery, and single-mode output. The last few years have seen significant research efforts focused on extending the wavelength coverage of SC sources towards the 2 to 20 $\mu$m molecular fingerprint mid-infrared (MIR) region and in the ultraviolet (UV) down to 100 nm, while also improving stability, noise and coherence, output power, and polarization properties. Here we review a selection of recent advances in SC generation in a range of specialty optical fibers, including fluoride, chalcogenide, telluride, and silicon-core fibers for the MIR; UV-grade silica fibers and gas-filled hollow-core fibers for the UV range; and all-normal dispersion fibers for ultralow-noise coherent SC generation.