Lifetime extending and performance improvements of micro-structured fibers via high temperature loading

1. An optical system comprising an optical fiber, said optical fiber comprising a core and a cladding comprising a core material and a cladding material, respectively, wherein said fiber is a non-linear microstructured optical fiber, said microstructured optical fiber being obtainable by a method comprising loading said core material and optionally said cladding material with hydrogen and/or deuterium, said system further comprising a feeding unit wherein said feeding unit is adapted to feed said fiber with pulses with a peak power density within said fiber equal to or higher than 1000 W/μm 2 .

2. The optical system of claim 1 wherein said fiber is arranged to be in an environment where it is subjected to a medium with a content of H 2 and/or H + -ions of less than 0.1 at %.

3. The optical system of claim 1 wherein said life time is more than 2000 operating hours.

4. A supercontinuum light source comprising a pulsed pump light source and an optical fiber, said optical fiber comprising a core and a cladding comprising a core material and a cladding material, respectively, wherein said fiber is a non-linear microstructured optical fiber, said microstructured optical fiber being obtained by a method comprising loading said core material and optionally said cladding material with hydrogen and/or deuterium, wherein said pump and fiber are adapted to provide an output spanning over at least one octave with at least 10 μW/nm and/or wherein said pump and said fiber are adapted to provide a maximum modulation instability gain Ω max larger than 20.

5. The light source of claim 4 , wherein said fiber is loaded by subjecting it to hydrogen and/or deuterium under loading conditions comprising at least one of a) a raised temperature T , b) a raised pressure P and/or c) subsequent irradiation.

6. The light source of claim 4 , wherein said fiber is loaded by subjecting it to hydrogen and/or deuterium under loading conditions suitably to allow hydrogen and/or deuterium to bind chemically to said material(s).

7. The light source of claim 5 , wherein T is more than or equal to 80° C.

8. The light source of claim 5 , wherein the pressure P is more than or equal to 10 bars.

9. The light source of claim 4 , wherein said loading of said core material and optionally of said cladding material is performed after forming said fiber.

10. The light source of claim 4 , wherein said loading of said core material and optionally of said cladding material is performed after using said fiber.

11. The light source of claim 4 , wherein said method comprises annealing said material subsequent to loading.

12. The light source of claim 4 , wherein said material comprises more than 0.1 atom percent (at %) bound hydrogen and/or deuterium.

13. The light source of claim 4 , wherein said core having a Germanium content of less than or equal to 2 at %.

14. The light source of claim 4 , wherein said core having a Germanium content of less than or equal to 0.1 at %.

15. The light source of claim 4 , having a core made from undoped silica.

16. The light source of claim 4 , wherein said pump and said fiber are adapted to provide a maximum modulation instability gain Ω max larger than 40.

17. The system of claim 1 , wherein said fiber is loaded by subjecting it to hydrogen and/or deuterium under loading conditions comprising at least one of a) a raised temperature T , b) a raised pressure P and/or c) subsequent irradiation.

18. The system of claim 1 , wherein said fiber is loaded by subjecting it to hydrogen and/or deuterium under loading conditions suitably to allow said hydrogen and/or deuterium to bind chemically to said material(s).

19. The system of claim 17 , wherein T is more than or equal to 80° C.

20. The system of claim 17 , wherein the pressure P is more than or equal to 10 bars.

21. The system of claim 1 , wherein said loading of said core material and optionally of said cladding material is performed after forming said fiber.

22. The system of claim 1 , wherein said loading of said core material and optionally of said cladding material is performed after using said fiber.

23. The system of claim 1 , wherein said method comprises annealing said material subsequent to loading.

24. The system of claim 1 , wherein said material comprises more than 0.1 atom percent (at %) bound hydrogen and/or deuterium.

25. The system of claim 1 , wherein said core comprising a Germanium content of less than or equal to 2 at %.

26. The system of claim 1 , wherein said core comprising a Germanium content of less than or equal to 0.1 at %.

27. The system of claim 1 , wherein said core is made from un-doped silica.