Telecom to mid-infrared spanning supercontinuum generation in hydrogenated amorphous silicon waveguides using a Thulium doped fiber laser pump source

A 1000 nm wide supercontinuum, spanning from 1470 nm in the telecom band to 2470 nm in the mid-infrared is demonstrated in a 800 nm x 220 nm 1 cm long hydrogenated amorphous silicon strip waveguide. The pump source was a picosecond Thulium doped fiber laser centered at 1950 nm. The real part of the nonlinear parameter of this waveguide at 1950 nm is measured to be 100 +/- 10 W(-1)m(-1), while the imaginary part of the nonlinear parameter is measured to be 1.2 +/- 0.2 W(-1)m(-1). The supercontinuum is stable over a period of at least several hours, as the hydrogenated amorphous silicon waveguides do not degrade when exposed to the high power picosecond pulse train. (C) 2013 Optical Society of America