Mid-Infrared Supercontinuum Generation in Highly Nonlinear Microstructured Optical Fibers

Abstract

This paper describes a new prospect for mid-infrared supercontinuum generation. Such non-silica soft glass materials as fluoride, tellurite and chalcogenide glass, all of which are transparent up to the midinfrared range, are used as fiber materials. We successfully fabricated microstructured optical fibers made of tellurite and chalcogenide glass to control chromatic dispersion and showed that highly nonlinear soft glass microstructured optical fibers are promising as mid-infrared supercontinuum generation media.