A light's ultrashort pulse contains waves that are sufficient for creating broadband spectrum. When these pulses are engaged into a glass-based optical fiber, the light can be observed with changes in its spectral and temporal properties.
Supercontinuum Light Sources and Their Applications
The nonlinear interactions between high-power ultrashort light pulse and glass optic fibers can result in a wide spectrum of the rainbow laser when carried out in a more intense approach. The band of lights occurring from this interaction is known as the 'supercontinuum light source.'
Supercontinuum light source was first introduced in 2000 alongside the initial developments of optical fibers. This type of light served as a stepping stone to level up technologies relying on laser lights. Many fields benefited from this revolutionary innovation, including metrology as well as astronomical studies that require imaging techniques to track subjects from the skies and deep space.
In modern studies of supercontinuum sources, the scientific community faced a problem that limits the technology. According to a report by EurekAlert, the issue lies in the optical fiber itself, as the material only supports a single transverse intensity profile. This is due to the inherent capacity of the optical fibers that allow only a limited optical power production.
Conventional optical fibers that are available today are assembled based on silica glass which is solely specialized for near-infrared and visible regions of the light spectrum.
To extend the spectrum of supercontinuum lights further, researchers theorized that different materials should be utilized. Potential components that might work to surpass the current limits of the technology are 'soft glasses,' but these materials pose another problem due to the lower damage threshold they can withstand and only defeats the purpose of supercontinuum sources even more.
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Creating Better Optical Fiber
In recent advancements in photonic systems, experts discovered the most promising fiber structure that could cater to maximum supercontinuum power. This optical fiber consists of a refractive index that is related continuously across the structure. Based on experiments, the new optic fiber yields an increase in supercontinuum power while preserving the beam intensity profile constantly.
Tampere University's Photonics Laboratory specialist and lead author of the study Goery Genty explained that the refractive index variation is essential to assembling a graded optical fiber to allow a convenient control over the focusing and defocusing of light on the side traveling throughout the fiber.
Through this approach, Genty said that coupling between spatial and temporal nonlinear interactions could be achieved. The whole model can produce a clean beam profile and a powerful supercontinuum light, the expert continued.
Through the collaboration of scientists from the University of Burgundy France-Comte and the University of Warsaw, the team was able to create a two-octave supercontinuum light that can go from visible to mid-infrared.
The model was equipped with a graded-index fiber that was made of two types of lead-bismuth-gallate glass. Through the selected sources, the system yielded a parabolic refractive index profile.
Fields that will benefit from this novel solution include cancer diagnostics, environmental tracking, food quality control, and pollutant monitoring, the authors said.
The study was published in the journal Nature Communications, titled "Two octave supercontinuum generation in a non-silica graded-index multimode fiber."
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