Visible continuum generation in air-silica microstructure optical fibers with anomalous dispersion at 800 nm

We demonstrate experimentally for what is to our knowledge the first time t hat air-silica microstructure optical fibers can exhibit anomalous dispersi on at visible wavelengths. We exploit this feature to generate an optical c ontinuum 550 THz in width, extending from the violet to the infrared, by pr opagating pulses of 100-fs duration and kilowatt peak powers through a micr ostructure fiber near the zero-dispersion wavelength. (C) 2000 Optical Soci ety of America.