Supercontinuum generation in seven-core photonic crystal fiber pumped by a broadband picosecond pulsed fiber amplifier*

We report a supercontinuum source generated in seven-core photonic crystal fibers (PCFs) pumped by a self-made all-fiber picosecond pulsed broadband fiber amplifier. The amplifier's output average power is 60 W at 1150 nm with spectral width of 260 nm, and its repetition rate is 8.47 MHz with pulse width of 221 ps. With two different lengths of seven-core PCF, different output powers and spectra are obtained. When a 10 m long seven-core PCF is chosen, the output supercontinuum covers the wavelength range from 620 nm to 1700 nm, with the output power of 11.7 W. With only 2 m long seven-core PCF used in the same experiment, the wavelength of the supercontinuum spans from 680 nm to 1700 nm, with the output power of 20.4 W. The results show that the pulse width is 385 ps in the 10 m long seven-core PCF and 255 ps in the 2 m long one, respectively, due to the normal dispersion of the PCF.