Filamentation and supercontinuum generation in lanthanum glass

A broadband supercontinuum (SC) covering 400–2800 nm in a 20 dB dynamic range is reported in a piece of highly nonlinear, low-dispersion bulk lanthanum glass without employing any lens to focus the pump pulse. The spectrum width obtained in this study is broader than the maximum spectrum width obtained in silica photonic crystal fibers. The filaments and bright conical visible emission patterns of the SC are analyzed. Under optimum pump conditions, an SC conversion efficiency of 75% is obtained. The SC conversion efficiency is confirmed to be stable. Additionally, the relationship between the input peak intensity and the output beam radius is elucidated by simulating the propagation of a Gaussian beam in the bulk lanthanum glass. A 0.20 mm stable laser beam radius at the end of the propagation domain is demonstrated in a certain input peak intensity range. This small value of the beam radius indicates that most of the output power is localized over a small region because of the Kerr focusing effect despite the existence of conical emission in the SC generation by filamentation. The findings of this study are of significance for the development of ultra-broadband SC sources based on bulk glasses and high peak power lasers.