Wavelength-tunable soliton generation in the 1400 -1600 nm region using an Yb fiber laser

Soliton pulses tunable in the 1400 - 1600 nm region are generated in standard telecom fiber seeded with a continuum produced in a fiber taper using an Yb fiber laser. Here we demonstrate supercontinuum generation in the 500 nm - 1600 nm wavelength region using a compact ultrafast Yb fiber laser as a systems-compatible pump source for the first time. Moreover, by injecting the supercontinuum into a length of standard telecommunications fiber, we can induce Raman-soliton generation to produce near bandwidth-limited pulses tunable in the 1400 - 1600 nm wavelength region. The required pulse energy for supercontinuum and Raman-soliton generation is only of the order of 1 nJ, which demonstrates that this technique is compatible with fiber sources operating at GHz repetition rates.