Delivery fiber assembly and a broad band source

Abstract

A delivery fiber assembly suitable for delivering broad band light and including a delivery fiber and a connector member. The delivery fiber has a length, an input end for launching light, and a delivery end. The delivery fiber includes along its length a core region and a cladding region surrounding the core region, the cladding region includes a cladding background material having a refractive index N bg and a plurality of microstructures in the form of inclusions of solid material having refractive index up to N inc and extending in the length of the longitudinal axis of the delivery fiber, wherein N inc <N bg . The plurality of inclusions in the cladding region is arranged in a cross-sectional pattern including at least two rings of inclusions surrounding the core region. The connector member is mounted to the delivery fiber at a delivery end section of the delivery fiber including the delivery end.

1 .- 20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . A broadband system, comprising:
 a broad band source configured to generate a spectrum of light;   a plurality of spectral filters optically coupled to the broadband source, wherein the plurality of spectral filters is configured to filter light having two different wavelengths from the spectrum of light, wherein the two different wavelengths differ by at least 25 nm; and   a delivery fiber optically coupled to the spectral filters such that the delivery fiber receives the light having the two different wavelengths, wherein the delivery fiber is configured to guide the light having the two different wavelengths as a single mode.   
     
     
         22 . The broadband system of  claim 21 , wherein at least one of the plurality of spectral filters is tunable. 
     
     
         23 . The broadband system of  claim 21 , wherein at least one of the plurality of spectral filters is non-tunable. 
     
     
         24 . The broadband system of  claim 21 , where the broadband system further comprises a pulse picker. 
     
     
         25 . The broadband system of  claim 21 , wherein the broadband system further comprises an amplifier. 
     
     
         26 . The broadband system of  claim 21 , wherein the two different wavelengths differ by at least 100 nm. 
     
     
         27 . The broadband system of  claim 21 , wherein the two different wavelengths differ by at least 200 nm. 
     
     
         28 . The broadband system of  claim 21 , wherein the delivery fiber is a single delivery fiber. 
     
     
         29 . The broadband system of  claim 21 , wherein the delivery fiber receives the light having the two different wavelengths at substantially the same time. 
     
     
         30 . The broadband system of  claim 21 , wherein the delivery fiber receives the light having two different wavelengths at different times. 
     
     
         31 . The broadband system of  claim 21 , wherein the delivery fiber is a microstructured delivery fiber. 
     
     
         32 . The broadband system of  claim 21 , wherein the microstructured delivery fiber has a longitudinal axis, an input end for launching light and a delivery end for delivering light, and the microstructured delivery fiber comprises a core region and a cladding region surrounding the core region, wherein the core region has a diameter of up to about 15 μm and the cladding region comprises a cladding background material having a refractive index N bg  and a plurality of inclusions of solid material extending in the direction of the longitudinal axis of the microstructured delivery fiber and having refractive index less than or equal to N inc . 
     
     
         33 . The broadband system of  claim 32 , wherein N inc <N bg  and the plurality of inclusions in the cladding region is arranged in a cross-sectional pattern comprising at least two rings of inclusions surrounding the core region, the microstructured delivery fiber has a transmission bandwidth of about 200 nm or more; and wherein the microstructured delivery fiber is arranged for receiving at least a portion of broad band light pulses for delivering at least a part of the received portion of the broad band light pulses. 
     
     
         34 . The broadband system of  claim 31 , wherein the microstructured delivery fiber has a transmission loss of less than 0.5 dB/m at wavelengths within a transmission bandwidth. 
     
     
         35 . The broadband system of  claim 31 , wherein the microstructured delivery fiber is a polarization maintaining optical fiber. 
     
     
         36 . The broadband system of  claim 31 , wherein the microstructured delivery fiber is a silica fiber and comprises solid inclusions of down doped silica. 
     
     
         37 . The broadband system of  claim 31 , wherein the microstructured delivery fiber comprises solid inclusions that are silica doped independently of each other with at least one of: fluorine; boron; and a component comprising at least one of fluorine atoms and boron atoms. 
     
     
         38 . The broadband system of  claim 31 , wherein the microstructured delivery fiber comprises an inclusion of a plurality of inclusions that has a higher refractive index than another inclusion of the plurality of inclusions. 
     
     
         39 . The broadband system of  claim 21 , wherein the broadband source further comprises an optical pump source comprising a mode-locked fiber oscillator. 
     
     
         40 . The broadband system of  claim 21 , wherein the delivery fiber is arranged for delivering the light having the two different wavelengths to an apparatus and to an object to be analyzed by the light having the two different wavelengths.