Mid-infrared supercontinuum generation in a suspended-core tellurium-based chalcogenide fiber

Abstract

Tellurium (Te)-based suspended-core fiber (SCF) consisting of dual chalcogenide glasses has been fabricated for the first time using a combined extrusion method. The SCF transmitting ability was evaluated by the simulation of the beam spots, energy distribution and ratio of core/fiber. The fiber was tapered into a small core size of 5 µm and the corresponding zero-dispersion-wavelength (ZDW) was 4.9 µm. The nonlinear coefficient γ was 3.983 m−1W−1 at 5 μm. Mid-infrared (MIR) supercontinuum (SC) spanning from 1.7 µm to 11.3 µm was achieved in a 20 cm Te-based complex SCF, pumped at 5 µm with an average power of 25 mW. The strong SC generated in the long wavelength was ascribed to the excellent transmitting ability in the SCF.