Patent ID: 7519253

Claim:
A broadband light source comprising: one or more laser diodes capable of generating a pump signal comprising a wavelength shorter than 2.5 microns, a pulse width of at least 100 picoseconds and a pump optical spectral width; one or more optical amplifiers coupled to the pump signal and capable of amplifying the pump signal to a peak power of at least 500 W; a first fiber coupled to the one or more optical amplifiers, the first fiber comprising an anomalous group-velocity dispersion regime and a modulational instability mechanism that modulates the pump signal, wherein the pump signal wavelength resides in the anomalous group-velocity dispersion regime of the first fiber, and wherein different intensities in the pump signal can cause relative motion between different parts of the modulated pump signal produced through modulational instability in the first fiber; and a nonlinear element coupled to the first fiber capable of broadening the pump optical spectral width to at least 100 nm through a nonlinear effect in the nonlinear element.