Thirteen watt all-fiber mid-infrared supercontinuum generation in a single mode ZBLAN fiber pumped by a 2  μm MOPA system

All-fiber-integrated mid-infrared (mid-IR) supercontinuum (SC) generation in a single mode ZBLAN (ZrF4-BaF2-LaF3-AlF3-NaF) fiber with 13 W average output power and a spectrum extending from ∼1.9 to 4.3 μm is reported, which we believe is the highest output power for mid-IR SC generation in ZBLAN fibers. The overall optical conversion efficiency from the 790 nm pump light of the last stage Tm-doped fiber (TDF) amplifier to the total SC output was 20%, and the SC power for wavelengths longer than 2.5 μm was 6.85 W with a power ratio of 52.69% with respect to the total SC power. The mid-IR SC generation in ZBLAN fiber was pumped by a 2 μm master oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) system, which is also very appropriate for high power 2-2.5 μm region SC generation. We also demonstrate high efficiency SC generation in the TDF amplifier with 62.1 W average power, 39.8% optical efficiency, and a spectrum extending from 1.9 to 2.7 μm.