Mid-Infrared Supercontinuum Laser System and its Biomedical Applications.

Abstract

A mid-infrared supercontinuum (SC) laser system is developed, which provides a continuous spectrum from ~0.8 to ~4.5 μm and is pumped by amplified nanosecond laser diode pulses. The SC laser uses ZBLAN (ZrF4-BaF2-LaF3-AlF3-NaF) fluoride fibers. The SC light source is all-fiber-integrated with no moving parts, operates at room temperature, and eliminates the need of mode-locked lasers. The time-averaged power of the SC is scalable up to 10.5 W by amplifying the pump pulses using cladding-pumped erbium/ytterbium co-doped fiber power amplifiers. SC has also been generated in silica fibers with spectrum extending to ~3 μm and an average power up to 5.3 W. The SC laser system comprises an all-fiber-spliced high power pump laser system followed by nonlinear optical generation fibers, i.e. ZBLAN and silica fibers. The SC generation is initiated by breaking up the nanosecond diode pulses into femtosecond pulses through modulation instability, and the spectrum is then broadened through the interplay of self-phase modulation, parametric four-wave mixing, and stimulated Raman scattering. Theoretical simulations have been carried out to study the SC generation mechanism by numerically solving the generalized nonlinear Schrödinger equation. The SC long wavelength edge is limited by the intrinsic fiber material absorption, i.e. ~3 μm in silica fibers and ~4.5 μm in ZBLAN fibers, respectively. Mid-infrared absorption spectroscopy of the constituents of normal artery, e.g. endothelial cells and smooth muscle cells, and atherosclerotic plaques, e.g. adipose tissue, macrophages and foam cells, and selective ablation of lipid-rich tissues have also been demonstrated using the SC laser system.