Simultaneous generation of random lasing and supercontinuum in a completely-opened fiber structure

The simultaneous generation of random lasing and a supercontinuum is demonstrated, where random lasing emission is realized in a completely-opened fiber structure without any resonance, and its wavelength lies in the anomalous dispersion region of a nonlinear fiber. As a result, a forward supercontinuum with a 20 dB bandwidth of ∼200 nm is obtained experimentally. This study provides the simplest structure for the simultaneous generation of pump lasing (random lasing acts as a pump for supercontinuum generation) and a supercontinuum, benefiting from the natural simplicity of completely-opened random fiber laser, and may result in novel supercontinuum sources with excellent reliability and lifetime. (letter)