Compact noise-like pulse fiber laser and its application for supercontinuum generation in highly nonlinear fiber

We report on supercontinuum generation in a highly nonlinear fiber (HNLF) pumped by noise-like pulses (NLPs) emitted from a compact fiber ring laser. The compact erbium-doped fiber ring laser is constructed by using an optical integrated component and mode-locked by the nonlinear polarization rotation technique. The laser produces NLPs with a 3-dB spectral bandwidth of 60.2 nm, repetition rate of 9.36 MHz, and pulse energy of 2.8 nJ. Numerical simulations reproduce the generation of NLPs in the experiment. The NLPs are then launched into a 110-m-long HNLF and a supercontinuum with a 20-dB spectral width over 500 nm is obtained. Such a simple and inexpensive supercontinuum-generation system is a potential alternative for various practical applications. (C) 2015 Optical Society of America