Generation of supercontinuum in erbium-doped microstructured optical fibers

We present experimental results on supercontinuum (SC) generation in Er-doped microstructured optical fibers (MOF) pumped with nanosecond pulses at 1064 nm. The Er doping increases the effective nonlinear refractive index. As a result, nonlinear interactions are enhanced and broad supercontinuum spectra are generated with relatively low pump power. Supercontinuum spectra generated in two fibers with the zero dispersion wavelengths (ZDW) close to the pump wavelength are presented. The first MOF is an endlessly singlemode fiber with normal dispersion at the pump wavelength, while the second fiber is a large air-filling fraction MOF with anomalous dispersion at 1064 nm.