Real time noise and wavelength correlations in octave-spanning supercontinuum generation

Thomas Godin (1) , Benjamin Wetzel (1) , Thibaut Sylvestre (1) , Laurent Larger (1) , Alexandre Kudlinski (2) , Arnaud Mussot (2) , A. Ben Salem (3) , M. Zghal (3) , G. Genty (4) , F. Dias (5) , John Michael Dudley (1)

1 FEMTO-ST - Franche-Comté Électronique Mécanique, Thermique et Optique - Sciences et Technologies (UMR 6174)
2 PhLAM - Laboratoire de Physique des Lasers, Atomes et Molécules - UMR 8523
3 UCAR - Université de Carthage (Tunisie)
4 Department of Physics [Tampere]
5 School of Mathematical Sciences [Dublin]

We use dispersive Fourier transformation to measure shotto- shot spectral instabilities in femtosecond supercontinuum generation. We study both the onset phase of supercontinuum generation with distinct dispersive wave generation, as well as a highly-unstable supercontinuum regime spanning an octave in bandwidth. Wavelength correlation maps allow interactions between separated spectral components to be identified, even when such interactions are not apparent in shot-to-shot or average measurements. Experimental results are interpreted using numerical simulations. Our results show the clear advantages of dispersive Fourier transformation for studying spectral noise during supercontinuum generation.

Domaines: Optique / photonique; Optique [physics.optics]

Thomas Godin, Benjamin Wetzel, Thibaut Sylvestre, Laurent Larger, Alexandre Kudlinski, et al.. Real time noise and wavelength correlations in octave-spanning supercontinuum generation. Optics Express, 2013, 21, pp.18452 - 18460. ⟨10.1364/OE.21.018452⟩. ⟨hal-00877549⟩