Generation of over 140-nm-wide super-continuum from a normal dispersion fiber by using a mode-locked semiconductor laser source

The super-continuum (SC) spectrum flatly broadened over 140-nm 10-dB bandwidth is generated by using a mode-locked semiconductor laser as a pulse source at 1550 nm. In our SC generation system, nearly Fourier-transform limited 0.9-ps pulses obtained through linear and nonlinear pulse compression are incident on a dispersion-flattened fiber having a small normal group-velocity dispersion. While the pulses pass through the normal dispersion fiber, the pulse waveform is adapted to suit the accumulation of a linear chirp, which leads to the flat and wide-band SC spectrum.