Active Control of Rogue Waves for Stimulated Supercontinuum Generation

We demonstrate that rogue waves provide a powerful tool to actively control a nonlinear system with minimal effort. Specifically, optical rogue waves-rare, bright flashes of broadband light arising in subthreshold supercontinuum generation-are initiated by an exceedingly weak stimulus. Using this effect, we produce an optically switchable, ultrastable, and bright supercontinuum with greatly enhanced coherence.