摘要

Picosecond pulse pumped supercontinuum generation in photonic crystal fiber is investigated by performing a series of comparative experiments. The main purpose is to investigate the supercontinuum generation processes excited by a given pump source through the experimental study of some specific fibers. A 20-W all-fiber picosecond master oscillator-power amplifier (MOPA) laser is used to pump three different kinds of photonic crystal fibers for supercontinuum generation. Three diverse supercontinuum formation processes are observed to correspond to photonic crystal fibers with distinct dispersion properties. The experimental results are consistent with the relevant theoretical results. Based on the above analyses, a watt-level broadband white light supercontinuum source spanning from 500 nm to beyond 1700 nm is demonstrated by using a picosecond fiber laser in combination with the matched photonic crystal fiber. The limitation of the group velocity matching curve of the photonic crystal fiber is also discussed in the paper.