IR supercontinuum source using low-loss heavy metal oxide glasses

1. An IR supercontinuum source for generating light over an IR spectral band having an upper edge of at least 3.5 microns, comprising:

a supercontinuum fiber having a core having an optical non-linearity sufficient for supercontinuum generation, said core formed of a heavy metal oxide glass comprising a network former of 45 to 90 mole percent of an oxide formed from Tellurium (Te), Lead (Pb), Tantalum (Ta), Bismuth (Bi), Gallium (Ga), Antimony (Sb), Arsenic (As), or combinations thereof, a glass intermediate or modifier of 0.2 to 45 mole percent of an oxide formed from Lanthanum (La), Thallium (Tl), Yttrium (Y), Tantalum (Ta), Bismuth (Bi), Gallium (Ga), Antimony (Sb), Arsenic (As), Titanium (Ti), Zirconium (Zr), Magnesium (Mg), Calcium (Ca), Strontium (Sr), Barium (Ba), Zinc (Zn), Lead (Pb) or Cadmium (Cd) or combinations thereof, and a non-zero amount of halide of less than 0.5 mole percent, wherein said network former, intermediate or modifier, and any said halide or any other glass constituent of at least 0.2 mole percent each have an absorption wavelength corresponding to an energy of the third phonon peak that is approximately at or longer than the upper edge of the IR spectral band, wherein said heavy metal oxide glass is substantially free comprising less than 0.1 mole percent of Hydroxide (OH—), said glass exhibiting an optical loss of less than 2 dB/m from 0.6 microns to 4.5 microns; a pump configured to produce an optical pulsed pump signal; and

a coupler that couples the pulsed pump signal to the supercontinuum fiber, said supercontinuum fiber configured to propagate the pulsed pump signal to interact nonlinearly with the supercontinuum fiber core to generate supercontinuum light that spans the IR spectral band.

2. The IR supercontinuum source of claim 1 , wherein the absorption wavelengths corresponding to the energy of the third phonon peak for the intermediate and modifier are longer than the absorption wavelength corresponding to the energy of the third phonon peak for the network former.

3. The IR supercontinuum source of claim 1 , wherein the upper edge is at least 4.5 microns, wherein said network former is Tellurium oxide and the intermediate is Lanthanum oxide.

4. The IR supercontinuum source of claim 3 , wherein

the Lanthanum oxide concentration is at least 5 mole percent;

the halide comprises a non-zero amount of Fluoride less than 0.5 mole percent, and

the modifier MO comprises ZnO.

5. The IR supercontinuum source of claim 3 , wherein the supercontinuum fiber's core oxide glass exhibits an optical loss of less than 0.3 dB/m over a spectral sub-range from 2 microns to 4 microns.

6. The IR supercontinuum source of claim 3 , wherein the source produces an integrated average output power of at least 10 mW over 4 to 5 microns.

7. The IR supercontinuum source of claim 1 , wherein the upper edge is at least approximately 7 microns, wherein said network former is a combination of lead (Pb) and bismuth (Bi) oxide.

8. The IR supercontinuum source of claim 1 , wherein the upper edge is at least 6.5 microns, wherein said network former is one of Pb/Bi, Pb/Ga or Pb/Ga/Bi.

9. The IR supercontinuum source of claim 1 , wherein the upper edge is at least 5.5 microns, wherein said network former is one of Pb/Bi, Pb/Ga, Pb/Ga/Bi or Ta/Ga.

10. The IR supercontinuum source of claim 1 , wherein the upper edge is at least 5 microns, wherein said network former is one of Pb/Bi, Pb/Ga, Pb/Ga/Bi, Ta/Ga, K/La/Ga or Te.

11. The IR supercontinuum source of claim 1 , wherein the supercontinuum fiber comprises the core oxide glass having a zero material dispersion wavelength (ZMDW), a first cladding surrounding said core and a second cladding surrounding said first cladding, said core, first cladding and second cladding having refractive indices n0, n1 and n2, respectively, in which n1<n2<n0,

wherein said supercontinuum fiber is configured to shift a zero dispersion wavelength (ZDW) of the fiber away from the core glass ZMDW;

wherein said pump is configured to produce the optical pulsed pump signal at the pump wavelength near the fiber's shifted ZDW;

wherein said supercontinuum fiber is configured to support propagation of the optical pulsed pump signal in only a single transverse spatial mode to interact nonlinearly with the core glass and generate supercontinuum light over the IR spectral band that propagates in only a single transverse spatial mode.

12. The IR supercontinuum source of claim 11 , wherein said the pump produces the optical pulsed pump signal with a first mode field diameter (MFD) and said supercontinuum fiber receives the optical pulsed pump signal with a smaller second MFD, said coupler comprising:

a coupler fiber comprising a core, a first cladding surrounding said core and a second cladding surrounding said first cladding, said core, first cladding and second cladding having refractive indices n0, n1 and n2, respectively, in which n1<n2<n0,

wherein said fiber is configured with a physical taper such that a radius of the core tapers from a radius a to a smaller radius a′ such that 2a≈the first MFD and 2a′≈the second MFD;

wherein said fiber is configured with indices of refraction n0 and n2 that define a numerical aperture to support propagation of the optical signal in only a single transverse spatial mode within the spectral band;

wherein the length of the physical taper of the fiber is configured so that the MFD tapers smoothly from the approximately the first MFD to approximately the second MFD; and

wherein said fiber is configured with index of refraction n1 and a first cladding radius that tapers from a radius b to b′ so that the taper of the MFD approximates the physical taper of the core.

13. The IR supercontinuum source of claim 12 , wherein said supercontinuum fiber is configured so that n0−n1>0.1 to provide nonlinearity sufficient for supercontinuum generation and said coupler fiber is configured with (n0−n1)/(n1)<<1 and n0−n1<0.05.

14. The IR supercontinuum source of claim 12 , wherein the first MFD is at least 10 microns and the second MFD is less than 5 microns.

15. The IR supercontinuum source of claim 1 , wherein said the pump produces the optical pulsed pump signal with a first mode field diameter (MFD) and said supercontinuum fiber receives the optical pulsed pump signal with a smaller second MFD, wherein said supercontinuum fiber is configured to support propagation of the optical pump signal and the supercontinuum in only a single transverse spatial mode, said coupler comprising:

a coupler fiber comprising a core, a first cladding surrounding said core and a second cladding surrounding said first cladding, said core, first cladding and second cladding having refractive indices n0, n1 and n2, respectively, in which n1<n2<n0,

wherein said fiber is configured with a physical taper such that a radius of the core tapers from a radius a to a smaller radius a′ such that 2a≈the first MFD and 2a′≈the second MFD;

wherein said fiber is configured with indices of refraction n0 and n2 that define a numerical aperture to support propagation of the optical signal in only a single transverse spatial mode within the spectral band;

wherein the length of the physical taper of the fiber is configured so that the MFD tapers smoothly from approximately the first MFD to approximately the second MFD; and

wherein said fiber is configured with index of refraction n1 and a first cladding radius that tapers from a radius b to b′ so that the taper of the MFD approximates the physical taper of the core.

16. The IR supercontinuum source of claim 15 , wherein the length of the physical taper of the fiber is configured so that the optical signal propagates adiabatically through the coupler.

17. The IR supercontinuum source of claim 1 , wherein the pump is a fiber pump, the coupler is a fiber coupler, and the fiber pump, fiber coupler and supercontinuum fiber are fusion spliced to form an all-fiber IR supercontinuum source.

18. The IR supercontinuum source of claim 1 , wherein the pump comprises a fiber pump source and multiple fiber amplifier stages.

19. An IR supercontinuum source for generating light over an IR spectral band having an upper edge of at least 3.5 microns, comprising:

a supercontinuum fiber having a core glass, a first cladding surrounding said core and a second cladding surrounding said first cladding, said core, first cladding and second cladding having refractive indices n0, n1 and n2, respectively, in which n1<n2<n0, wherein said fiber is configured to receive an optical pulsed pump signal in a first mode field diameter (MFD) and support propagation of the signal in only a single transverse spatial mode to interact nonlinearly with the core glass and generate supercontinuum light over the IR spectral band that propagates in only a single transverse spatial mode, said core glass formed of a heavy metal oxide glass comprising a network former of 45 to 90 mole percent of an oxide formed from Tellurium (Te), Lead (Pb), Tantalum (Ta), Bismuth (Bi), Gallium (Ga), Antimony (Sb), Arsenic (As), or combinations thereof, a glass intermediate or modifier of 0.2 to 45 mole percent of an oxide formed from Lanthanum (La), Thallium (Tl), Yttrium (Y), Tantalum (Ta), Bismuth (Bi), Gallium (Ga), Antimony (Sb), Arsenic (As), Titanium (Ti) or Zirconium (Zr) Magnesium (Mg), Calcium (Ca), Strontium (Sr), Barium (Ba), Zinc (Zn), Lead (Pb) or Cadmium (Cd) or combinations thereof, and a non-zero amount of halide less than 0.5 mole percent, wherein said network former, intermediate or modifier, and any said halide or any other glass constituent of at least 0.2 mole percent each have an absorption wavelength corresponding to an energy of the third phonon peak that is approximately at or longer than the upper edge of the IR spectral band, wherein said heavy metal oxide glass is substantially free comprising less than 0.1 mole percent of Hydroxide (OH—); said glass exhibiting an optical loss of less than 2 dB/m from 0.6 microns to 4.5 microns;

a pump configured to produce an optical pulsed pump signal in a single transverse spatial mode with a second MFD greater than said first MFD; and a fiber coupler fusion spliced between said pump and said supercontinuum fiber to couple the pulsed pump signal from the second MFD into the smaller first MFD of the supercontinuum fiber, said fiber coupler comprising a core, a first cladding surrounding said core and a second cladding surrounding said first cladding, said core, first cladding and second cladding having refractive indices n0, n1 and n2, respectively, in which n1<n2<n0, wherein said fiber coupler is configured to support propagation of the optical pulsed pump signal in only a single transverse spatial mode along a physical taper of the fiber so that a MFD of the coupler tapers from approximately the larger second MFD from the pump to approximately the smaller first MFD of the supercontinuum fiber.

20. An IR supercontinuum source for generating light over an IR spectral band spanning at least 3 to 5 microns, comprising:

a supercontinuum fiber having a core having an optical non-linearity sufficient for supercontinuum generation, said core formed of an oxide glass comprising a network former of 45 to 90 mole percent of an oxide formed from Tellurium (Te), said Tellurium oxide having an absorption feature with an absorption wavelength corresponding to an energy of the third phonon peak that is longer than 5 microns, a glass intermediate of 0.2 to 45 mole percent of an oxide formed from Lanthanum (La), a glass modifier of 0.2 to 45 mole percent of an oxide formed from Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba, Zn, Pb and Cd or combinations thereof, and a non-zero amount of halide of less than 0.5 mole percent, wherein said intermediate and modifier and any said halide each have an absorption wavelength corresponding to an energy of the third phonon peak that is longer than that of the Tellurium oxide, said oxide glass substantially free comprising less than 0.1 mole percent of Hydroxide (OH—) and any other glass constituent having an absorption feature with an absorption wavelength corresponding to a energy of a third phonon peak that is shorter than that of the Tellurium oxide, said glass exhibiting an optical loss of less than 2 dB/m from 0.6 microns to 4.5 microns: a pump configured to produce an optical pulsed pump signal; and a coupler that couples the pulsed pump signal to the supercontinuum fiber, said supercontinuum fiber configured to propagate the pulsed pump signal to interact nonlinearly with the supercontinuum fiber core to generate supercontinuum light that spans the IR spectral band of at least 3 to 5 microns.

21. The IR supercontinuum source of claim 20 , wherein the Lanthanum oxide concentration is at least 5 mole percent; the halide comprises a non-zero amount of Fluoride less than 0.5 mole percent, and the modifier MO comprises ZnO wherein said oxide glass exhibits an optical loss of less than 0.3 dB/m over a spectral sub-range from 2 microns to 4 microns, wherein the source produces an integrated average output power of at least 10 mW over 4 to 5 microns.

22. The IR supercontinuum source of claim 20 , wherein the supercontinuum fiber comprises the core Tellurium oxide glass having a zero material dispersion wavelength (ZMDW), a first cladding surrounding said core and a second cladding surrounding said first cladding, said core, first cladding and second cladding having refractive indices n0, n1 and n2, respectively, in which n1<n2<n0,

wherein said supercontinuum fiber is configured to shift a zero dispersion wavelength (ZDW) of the fiber away from the core glass ZMDW;

wherein said pump is configured to produce the optical pulsed pump signal at the pump wavelength near the fiber's shifted ZDW;

wherein said supercontinuum fiber is configured to support propagation of the optical pulsed pump signal in only a single transverse spatial mode to interact nonlinearly with the core glass and generate supercontinuum light over the IR spectral band that propagates in only a single transverse spatial mode.

23. An IR supercontinuum source, comprising:

a supercontinuum fiber comprising a core, a first cladding surrounding said core and a second cladding surrounding said first cladding, said core, first cladding and second cladding having refractive indices n0, n1 and n2, respectively, in which n1<n2<n0,

wherein said core, first cladding and second cladding are formed from a heavy metal oxide glass, said core glass having a zero material dispersion wavelength (ZMDW) and a non-linearity sufficient for supercontinuum generation;

wherein said supercontinuum fiber is configured to shift a zero dispersion wavelength (ZDW) of the fiber away from the core glass ZMDW;

a pump configured to produce a pulsed pump signal at a pump wavelength near the fiber's shifted ZDW; and

a coupler that couples the pulsed pump signal to the supercontinuum fiber,

wherein said supercontinuum fiber is configured to support propagation of the pulsed pump signal in only a single transverse spatial mode to interact nonlinearly with the core glass and generate supercontinuum light over an IR spectral band that propagates in only a single transverse spatial mode.

24. The IR supercontinuum source of claim 23 , wherein said the pump produces the optical pulsed pump signal with a first mode field diameter (MFD) of at least 10 microns and said supercontinuum fiber receives the optical pulsed pump signal with a smaller second MFD of less than 5 microns, wherein said supercontinuum fiber is configured with n0−n1>0.1 to provide nonlinearity for supercontinuum generation and is configured to support propagation of the optical pump signal and the supercontinuum in only a single transverse spatial mode, said coupler comprising:

a coupler fiber comprising a core, a first cladding surrounding said core and a second cladding surrounding said first cladding, said core, first cladding and second cladding having refractive indices n0, n1 and n2, respectively, in which n1<n2<n0,

wherein with (n0−n1)(n1)<<1 and n0−n1<0.05, wherein said fiber is configured with a physical taper such that a radius of the core tapers from a radius a to a smaller radius a′ such that 2a≈the first MFD and 2a′≈the second MFD;

wherein said fiber is configured with indices of refraction no and n2 that define a numerical aperture to support propagation of the optical signal in only a single transverse spatial mode within the spectral band;

wherein the length of the physical taper of the fiber is configured so that the MFD tapers smoothly from approximately the first MFD to approximately the second MFD; and

wherein said fiber is configured with index of refraction n1 and a first cladding radius that tapers from a radius b to b′ so that the taper of the MFD approximates the physical taper of the core.

25. An IR supercontinuum source for generating light over an IR spectral band having an upper edge of at least 3.5 microns, comprising:

a supercontinuum fiber having a heavy metal oxide core glass, wherein said fiber is configured to receive an optical pulsed pump signal in a first mode field diameter (MFD) and support propagation of the signal in only a single transverse spatial mode to interact nonlinearly with the core glass and generate supercontinuum light over the IR spectral band that propagates in only a single transverse spatial mode,

a pump configured to produce an optical pulsed pump signal in a single transverse spatial mode with a second MFD greater than said first MFD; and

a fiber coupler fusion spliced between said pump and said supercontinuum fiber to couple the pulsed pump signal from the second MFD into the smaller first MFD of the supercontinuum fiber, said fiber coupler comprising a core, a first cladding surrounding said core and a second cladding surrounding said first cladding, said core, first cladding and second cladding having refractive indices n0, n1 and n2, respectively, in which n1<n2<n0, wherein said fiber coupler is configured to support propagation of the optical pulsed pump signal in only a single transverse spatial mode along a physical taper of the fiber so that a MFD of the coupler tapers from approximately the larger second MFD from the pump to approximately the smaller first MFD of the supercontinuum fiber.