title: Fundamental noise limitations to supercontinuum generation in microstructure fiber.
abstract: Broadband noise on supercontinuum spectra generated in microstructure fiber is shown to lead to amplitude fluctuations as large as 50% for certain input laser pulse parameters. We study this noise using both experimental measurements and numerical simulations with a generalized stochastic nonlinear Schrödinger equation, finding good quantitative agreement over a range of input-pulse energies and chirp values. This noise is shown to arise from nonlinear amplification of two quantum noise inputs: the input-pulse shot noise and the spontaneous Raman scattering down the fiber.
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Standards and Technology, 325 Broadway, Boulder, Colorado 80305, USA.
authors.forename: K L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Corwin
authors.forename: N R
authors.initials: NR
authors.lastname: Newbury
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Dudley
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Coen
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Diddams
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Weber
authors.forename: R S
authors.initials: RS
authors.lastname: Windeler