Supercontinuum generation in an ultrafast laser inscribed chalcogenide glass waveguide

The authors report supercontinuum generation in an ultrafast laser inscribed chalcogenide glass waveguide. The waveguides were fabricated using a Yb:glass cavity-dumped femtosecond oscillator with 600-kHz repetition rate. The waveguides were pumped using an optical parametric amplifier tuned to 1500 nm with a bandwidth of 100 nm. The broadest resulting supercontinuum spanned 600 nm (at -15 dB points) from 1320 to 1920 nm. The supercontinuum was generated in the normal dispersion regime, enhancing stability, and exhibits a smooth spectral shape. © 2007 Optical Society of America.