Experimental demonstration of multiwatt continuous-wave supercontinuum tailoring in photonic crystal fibers

We experimentally demonstrate that the spectral broadening of continuous-wave supercontinuum can be controlled by using photonic crystal fibers with two zero-dispersion wavelengths pumped by a fiber laser at 1064 nm. The spectrum is bounded by two dispersive waves whose spectral location depends on the two zero-dispersion wavelengths of the fiber. The bandwidth of the generated spectrum and the spectral power density may thus be tailored for particular applications, such as high-resolution optical coherence tomography or optical spectroscopy. (C) 2008 American Institute of Physics.