Time-stretched all-fiber supercontinuum source for spectroscopy

An all-fiber time-stretched supercontinuum light source is presented. Time-stretching is obtained by dispersing the light in a specially designed highly dispersive fiber with a wide transmission bandwidth. The light source is based on a polarization-maintaining, self-starting femtosecond oscillator with repetition rate in the 1-10 MHz range. The supercontinuum stretches from 950 – 1700 nm and exhibits a high level of stability – both in terms of amplitude and repetition rate. The stretched light source is contained in a box with dimensions 25x25x5 cm3 with a single mode output fiber, making it suitable for a wide range of spectroscopy applications and swept source OCT.