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First demonstrated over four decades ago, fiber gratings, and in particular fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs), have become indispensable and ubiquitous components within fiber laser cavities as well as optical communication networks and sensor systems. Because of their overwhelming use, the bulk of published work to date has concentrated on fibers that are composed of silica-based glasses, yet those become virtually opaque at wavelengths above 2 μm, i.e., in the technically increasingly important mid-infrared part of the electromagnetic spectrum. Soft glass fluoride fibers on the other hand, in particular those composed of ZBLAN (abbreviation for ZrF4-BaF2-LaF3-AlF3-NaF), offer low-loss transmission out to wavelengths of up to almost 4 μm. However, while fiber manufacturing itself has now reached a high level of maturity, with passive fiber attenuation levels as low as 1 dB/km becoming commercially available, grating fabrication in these fibers remains challenging, and research into suitable inscription techniques is still a very active and ongoing scientific field. This review aims to provide an overview of work that has been done in this area to date with an emphasis on femtosecond-laser based fabrication methods.

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We present numerical modeling of mid-infrared (MIR) supercontinuum generation (SCG) in dispersion-optimized chalcogenide (CHALC) step-index fibres (SIFs) with exceptionally high numerical aperture (NA) around one, pumped with mode-locked praseodymium-doped (Pr3+) chalcogenide fibre lasers. The 4.5um laser is assumed to have a repetition rate of 4MHz with 50ps long pulses having a peak power of 4.7kW. A thorough fibre design optimisation was conducted using measured material dispersion (As-Se/Ge-As-Se) and measured fibre loss obtained in fabricated fibre of the same materials. The loss was below 2.5dB/m in the 3.3-9.4μ m region. Fibres with 8 and 10μm core diameters generated an SC out to 12.5 and 10.7μm in less than 2m of fibre when pumped with 0.75 and 1kW, respectively. Larger core fibres with 20μm core diameters for potential higher power handling generated an SC out to 10.6μm for the highest NA considered but required pumping at 4.7kW as well as up to 3m of fibre to compensate for the lower nonlinearities. The amount of power converted into the 8-10 μm band was 7.5 and 8.8mW for the 8 and 10μm fibres, respectively. For the 20μm core fibres up to 46mW was converted.

We theoretically demonstrate a novel approach for generating Mid-InfraRed SuperContinuum (MIR SC) by using concatenated fluoride and chalcogenide glass fibers pumped with a standard pulsed Thulium (Tm) laser (TFWHM=3.5ps, P0=20kW, νR=30MHz, and Pavg=2W). The fluoride fiber SC is generated in 10m of ZBLAN spanning the 0.9–4.1μm SC at the −30dB level. The ZBLAN fiber SC is then coupled into 10cm of As2Se3 chalcogenide Microstructured Optical Fiber (MOF) designed to have a zero-dispersion wavelength (λZDW) significantly below the 4.1μm InfraRed (IR) edge of the ZBLAN fiber SC, here 3.55μm. This allows the MIR solitons in the ZBLAN fiber SC to couple into anomalous dispersion in the chalcogenide fiber and further redshift out to the fiber loss edge at around 9μm. The final 0.9–9μm SC covers over 3 octaves in the MIR with around 15mW of power converted into the 6–9μm range.

SPIRou is a near-IR (0.98-2.35μm), echelle spectropolarimeter / high precision velocimeter being designed as a next-generation instrument for the 3.6m Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope on Mauna Kea, Hawaii, with the main goal of detecting Earth-like planets around low mass stars and magnetic fields of forming stars. The unique scientific and technical capabilities of SPIRou are described in a series of seven companion papers. In this paper, the fiber links which connects the polarimeter unit to the cryogenic spectrograph unit (35 meter apart) are described. The pupil slicer which forms a slit compatible with the spectrograph entrance specifications is also discussed in this paper. Some challenging aspects are presented. In particular this paper will focus on the manufacturing of 35 meter fibers with a very low loss attenuation (< 13dB/km) in the non-usual fiber spectral domain from 0.98 μm to 2.35 μm. Other aspects as the scrambling performance of the fiber links to reach high accuracy radial velocity measurements (1m/s) and the design of the pupil slicer exposed at a cryogenic and vacuum environment will be discussed., Ground-Based and Airborne Instrumentation for Astronomy IV, July 1-6, 2012, Amsterdam, Netherlands, Series: Proceedings of SPIE

High brightness and broad spectrum optical sources in the mid-infrared (mid-IR) are promising for different applications such as optronic countermeasures, LIDAR systems and spectroscopy. This thesis research work is dedicated to the investigation of high power supercontinuum generation in the 2-5 μm range. A thulium-doped fiber laser emitting at 2 μm has been built and characterized in continuous wave, Q-switching and Q-switched mode-locking regime. In continuous wave operation, as much as 45 W have been reached with a slope efficiency of 58%. The implementation of two fused-quartz end-caps fusion spliced at the extremities of the active-fiber improved the thermal management and the overall stability of the entire system in all mentioned regimes of operation, allowing for higher pump powers. In Q-switched mode-locking, the maximum average output power level was 40 W, for a Q-switch repetition rate of 150 kHz. At the average output power level of 20 W and 50 kHz of Q-switch repetition rate, the most energetic mode-locked pulse had an energy of 88 μJ and an estimated peak power of ~60 kW. In all the mentioned operation regimes, the measured beam parameter M2 of the fiber laser was 1.1, close to the diffraction limit. This laser has been used to pump fluoride optical fibers (ZBLAN and InF3) for supercontinuum generation in the 2-5 μm range. In ZBLAN, more than 10 W in all spectral bands have been obtained, with an output spectrum extending up to 4.4 μm. A conversion efficiency of 35%/28%/15%/8% has been measured for wavelengths longer than 2.15 μm/2.65 μm/3.1 μm/3.5 μm, respectively. For the InF3 fiber, a new design of an injection system, consisting of a large core diameter ZBLAN optical fiber and a commercial fiber-to-fiber coupler, allowed to enhance the thermo-mechanical stability of the fiber. The supercontinuum radiation generated in InF3 showed an output spectrum spanning up to around 4.7 μm with an output power level of 7 W in all spectral bands. To the best of our knowledge, this was the first Watt-level supercontinuum radiation in an InF3 fiber pumped by a singleoscillator., Le développement de sources optiques ayant une forte brillance et un large spectre est nécessaire pour différentes applications telles que les contremesures optroniques, les systèmes LIDAR et la spectroscopie. Ce travail de thèse est consacré à l'étude de la génération de supercontinuum de forte puissance dans le domaine spectral allant de 2 à 5 μm. Un laser à fibre dopé thulium, émettant à 2 μm, a été réalisé et caractérisé en régimes continu, déclenché et à verrouillage de modes déclenchés. En régime continu, une puissance de 45 W a été atteinte avec un rendement différentiel de 58%. L'intégration de deux embouts en quartz fondu, fusionnés aux extrémités de la fibre active, a permis une amélioration drastique du contrôle de la température et de la stabilité générale du système dans tous les régimes de fonctionnement précédemment mentionnés. En régime combiné, de verrouillage de modes déclenchés, la puissance moyenne maximale en sortie de laser était de 40 W à une fréquence de déclenchement de 150 kHz. Pour une puissance moyenne en sortie de 20 W et une fréquence de déclenchement de 50 kHz, l'impulsion verrouillée la plus énergétique avait une énergie de 88 μJ et une puissance crête estimée de 60 kW. Dans tous les régimes de fonctionnement mentionnés, le facteur de propagation du faisceau M2 était proche de la limite de diffraction avec une excellente valeur de 1,1. Le faisceau de ce laser fibré a été utilisé pour pomper des fibres optiques en fluorure pour la génération de supercontinuum dans le domaine spectral de 2 à 5 μm. Les travaux expérimentaux ont été focalisés sur les matériaux en fluorure que sont le ZBLAN et le fluorure d’indium (InF3). Avec la fibre en ZBLAN, plus de 10 W ont été générés sur l'ensemble du domaine spectral avec une limite supérieure de domaine spectrale allant jusqu'à 4,4 μm. L'efficacité de conversion du supercontinuum a été mesurée à 35%, 28%, 15% et 8% pour un faisceau généré de longueur d'onde supérieure à 2,15 μm, 2,65 μm, 3,1 μm et 3,5 μm, respectivement. Concernant la fibre en InF3, la réalisation d'un nouveau système d'injection (combinant une fibre ZBLAN large coeur et un coupleur commercial fibre à fibre) a permis d'atteindre une grande stabilité thermo-mécanique de la fibre pendant les expériences à haute puissance. La génération de supercontinuum dans cette fibre s'est concrétisée par un faisceau de sortie dont le spectre atteignait la longueur d'onde de 4,7 μm et une puissance de 7 W sur l'ensemble du domaine spectral. À notre connaissance, ceci est le premier faisceau supercontinuum, ayant une puissance de l'ordre de quelques watts, généré dans une fibre en InF3 pompée par un oscillateur unique.