Patent ID: 8059333

Claim:
A blue extended super continuum light source arranged to provide a generated spectrum having an intensity I(Î») as a function of wavelength Î» and having a blue part relative to a pump wavelength Î» pump comprising wavelengths from Î» pump âˆ’Î» 1 to Î» pump âˆ’Î» 2 , wherein Î» pump âˆ’Î» 1 <Î» pump /2, said light source comprising: a) a micro structured optical fiber adapted to transmit radiation at Î» pump , said fiber having at least one wavelength region of anomalous dispersion comprising both Î» pump and an infra red absorption band edge stabilization point, and said fiber having a dispersion parameter Î² (Î») and a non-linear parameter Î³ arranged so that light generated at 2220 nm phase matches with a wavelength equal to or less than 495 nm, and said fiber having a group velocity at Î» pump âˆ’Î» 2 smaller than or equal to a group velocity at said pump wavelength, b) a pump source pumping said microstructured fiber with pump pulses at said pump wavelength with a duration, full width half maximum, of T FWHM â‰§1 ps and a peak power P Peak at a repetition rate higher than 1 kHz, wherein said pump source and microstructured optical fiber is arranged such that a part of each of said pump pulses pumped into said fiber breaks into trains of Tera Hertz repetition rate pulses, the generated spectrum extends to the infra red absorption band edge stabilization point, and I(Î»)>âˆ’5 dBm/nm for a range of wavelengths from Î» pump âˆ’Î» 1 to Î» pump âˆ’Î» 2 , which range of wavelengths includes 473 nm, and where Î» 1 âˆ’Î» 2 is larger than 100 nm.