A dehydrated W-type fluorotellurite fiber for mid-infrared supercontinuum generation.

• A W-type fluorotellurite glass fiber was firstly fabricated by rotational casting method. • The OH absorption coefficient of the fluorotellurite glass is 0.004 cm−1, and the OH-induced attenuation of the fiber is 8.5 dB/m at 3.1 μm. • Coherent supercontinuum was generated from the W-type fiber pumped by a 1560 nm femtosecond fiber laser. A W-type fluorotellurite glass fiber was fabricated by rotational casting method. The OH absorption coefficient of the fluorotellurite glass is 0.004 cm−1, and the OH-induced attenuation of the fiber is 8.5 dB/m at 3.1 μm. The fiber has a small core of 5 μm in diameter with the lowest loss of 0.9 dB/m at 2.7 μm. 1–2.4 µm supercontinuum (SC) has been generated from a 30 cm-long dehydrated fluorotellurite glass fiber pumped by a 1560 nm femtosecond fiber laser. The numerical simulation is in good agreement with experiment result based on the generalized nonlinear Schrödinger equation. The experiment and numerical simulation show that the dehydrated fluorotellurite fiber is a promising candidate for SC in 1–4 µm region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]