Supercontinuum Generation Using a Polarization-Maintaining Photonic Crystal Fibre by a Regeneratively Amplified Ti:Sapphire Laser

Supercontinuum with an ultra-broad bandwidth in the range from 380nm to 1750nm was generated by injecting 250kHz 200fs optical pulses produced by a regeneratively amplified Ti:sapphire laser into a 2.5-m-long polarization-maintaining photonic crystal fibre (PCF). It is indicated that the mechanism for the supercontinuum generation in the anomalous dispersion region of the PCF are directly related to the Raman effect, the fission of higher-order solitons, nonsolitonic radiation, and the coinstantaneous effect of four-wave mixing. The frequency components beyond 1.4μm were also observed. It is interpreted that the energy of solitons is shifted beyond the OH absorption with a higher input power.