Patent ID: 9276371
Filing Date: 2016-03-01
CPC Classification: G02B,G02F,H01S

Claim Text:
1. A supercontinuum optical pulse source to provide a combined supercontinuum, comprising: one or more seed pulse sources; first and second optical amplifiers arranged along first and second respective optical paths, wherein said first and second optical amplifiers are configured to amplify one or more optical signals generated by said one or more seed pulse sources; a first microstructured light-guiding member arranged along the first optical path and configured to generate supercontinuum light responsive to an optical signal propagating along the first optical path; a second microstructured light-guiding member arranged along the second optical path and configured to generate supercontinuum light responsive to an optical signal propagating along the second optical path; a supercontinuum-combining member to combine supercontinuum generated in at least the first and second microstructured light-guiding members to form a combined supercontinuum; wherein said supercontinuum-combining member comprises an output fibre, wherein the output fibre comprises a multimode optical fibre supporting a plurality of spatial modes at one or more wavelengths of the combined supercontinuum and wherein said optical amplifiers are configured so that in use, the power in a microstructured light-guiding member over the wavelength range 400 nm to 700 nm is greater than 0.5 W.