ABSTRACT
The first nonlinear process to be reported was the second harmonic generation, which, however, is of little relevance to supercontinuum generation either in bulk or in fibre. The production of a supercontinuum in an optical fibre can be the result of numerous nonlinear effects taking place as the optical disturbance propagates in the fibre. The short-wavelength restriction on the operation of the supercontinuum is a result of the need for soliton dynamics to initiate and, in fact, play the major role in supercontinuum generation and shaping. The supercontinuum generated in the first fibre, for an average pump power of approximately 3.5 W, produced a spectrum that only extended to 600 nm on the short wavelength of the continuum. Efficient supercontinuum generation requires the pump to experience anomalous dispersion, which leads to modulational instability and the adiabatic evolution and amplification of optical solitons.
