High power mid-infrared supercontinuum generation in a single-mode ZBLAN fiber with up to 21.8 W average output power

We report high power mid-infrared (mid-IR) supercontinuum (SC) generation in a single-mode ZBLAN (ZrF4-BaF2-LaF3-AlF3-NaF) fiber with up to 21.8 W average output power from 1.9 to beyond 3.8 mu m pumped by amplified picosecond pulses from a single-mode thulium-doped fiber (TDF) master oscillator power amplifier (MOPA). The optical-optical conversion efficiency from the 793 nm pump laser of the last stage thulium-doped fiber amplifier (TDFA) to mid-IR SC output is 17%. It is, to the best of our knowledge, the highest average power mid-IR SC generation from a ZBLAN fiber to date. (C) 2014 Optical Society of America