title: Low-spatial-coherence high-radiance broadband fiber source for speckle free imaging.
abstract: We design and demonstrate a fiber-based amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) source with low spatial coherence, low temporal coherence, and high power per mode. ASE is produced by optically pumping a large gain core multimode fiber while minimizing optical feedback to avoid lasing. The fiber ASE source provides 270 mW of continuous wave emission, centered at λ=1055  nm, with a full width at half-maximum bandwidth of 74 nm. The emission is distributed among as many as ∼70 spatial modes, enabling efficient speckle suppression when combined with spectral compounding. Finally, we demonstrate speckle-free full-field imaging using the fiber ASE source. The fiber ASE source provides a unique combination of high power per mode with both low spatial and low temporal coherence, making it an ideal source for full-field imaging and ranging applications.
authors.forename: Brandon
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Redding
authors.forename: Peyman
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ahmadi
authors.forename: Vadim
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Mokan
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Seifert
authors.forename: Michael A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Choma
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Cao
mesh_terms: D055100:Optical Fibers; D061848:Optical Imaging / Q000295:instrumentation*