Broadband telecom to mid-infrared supercontinuum generation in a dispersion-engineered silicon germanium waveguide

We demonstrate broadband supercontinuum generation (SCG) in a dispersion-engineered silicon-germanium waveguide. The 3 cm long waveguide is pumped by femtosecond pulses at 2.4 mu m, and the generated supercontinuum extends from 1.45 to 2.79 mu m (at the -30 dB point). The broadening is mainly driven by the generation of a dispersive wave in the 1.5-1.8 mu m region and soliton fission. The SCG was modeled numerically, and excellent agreement with the experimental results was obtained. (C) 2015 Optical Society of America