title: Ultra-flat SPM-broadened spectra in a highly nonlinear fiber using parabolic pulses formed in a fiber Bragg grating.
abstract: We propose a new method for generating flat self-phase modulation (SPM)-broadened spectra based on seeding a highly nonlinear fiber (HNLF) with chirp-free parabolic pulses generated using linear pulse shaping in a superstructured fiber Bragg grating (SSFBG). We show that the use of grating reshaped parabolic pulses allows substantially better performance in terms of the extent of SPM-based spectral broadening and flatness relative to conventional hyperbolic secant (sech) pulses. We demonstrate both numerically and experimentally the generation of SPM-broadened pulses centred at 1542 nm with 92% of the pulse energy remaining within the 29 nm 3 dB spectral bandwidth. Applications in spectra slicing and pulse compression are demonstrated.
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Parmigiani
authors.forename: Christophe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Finot
authors.forename: Kazunori
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mukasa
authors.forename: Morten
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ibsen
authors.forename: Michael A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Roelens
authors.forename: Periklis
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Petropoulos
authors.forename: David J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Richardson