Extreme supercontinuum generation to the deep UV

We report the formation of an ultrabroad supercontinuum down to 280 nm in the deep UV by pumping sharply tapered (5-30 mm taper lengths) solid-core photonic crystal fibers with 130 fs, 2 nJ pulses at 800 nm. The taper moves the point of soliton fission to a position where the core is narrower, a process that requires normal dispersion at the input face of the fiber. We find that the generation of deep-UV radiation is limited by strong two-photon absorption in the silica. (C) 2012 Optical Society of America