Supercontinuum generation in laser host materials with pulse durations over the entire femtosecond regime

This research focuses on laser host materials with their superior crystalline quality, high nonlinearity, and high damage threshold. First evidence for ps continuum generation was found in YAG and KGW including some of the advantageous properties of fs white-light like flat and smooth plateau-like spectra with coverage of the entire visible range. Also infrared plateau-like spectra were observed during continuum generation in YAG. Higher repetition rates can stop continuum generation, if the material has not sufficient time to recover.