Optimization of temporal characteristics of supercontinuum generated in tapered air-clad fibers

摘要

Numerical simulations are used to study temporal characteristics of supercontinuum (SC) generated in tapered and photonic crystal fibers. The dependence of SC temporal characteristics on pumping parameters (pulse duration, peak power, and wavelength) is investigated. The correlation between the SC spectrum and temporal structure is studied. This correlation is shown to be caused by fiber dispersion. An easy way to estimate SC pulse duration by spectrum width is proposed. It is shown that using specially designed fibers with flattened dispersion one can obtain shorter SC pulses.