Stable supercontinuum source based on random lasing

Abstract

Backward supercontinuum generation seeded by random distributed feedback fiber laser is proposed and demonstrated. Fully-distributed random lasing is firstly used as an effective pump laser to generate supercontinuum in the hybrid configuration with TrueWave fiber and dispersion compensated fiber. Supercontinuum in both propagating directions are generated through the collective nonlinear effects. It is found backward supercontinuum possesses much lower dynamical amplitude fluctuation in time domain. Random distributed lasing pumped supercontinuum generation not only enrich both the research scope of supercontinuum and random fiber laser, but also provide a practical way for development of stable broadband sources for OCT applications.