A coherent anti-stokes Raman scattering apparatus for imaging a sample includes an optical output; an optical source arranged to generate a first optical signal at a first wavelength; and a nonlinear element arranged to receive the first optical signal, where the nonlinear element is arranged to cause the first optical signal to undergo four-wave mixing on transmission through the nonlinear element such that a second optical signal at a second wavelength and a third optical signal at a third wavelength are generated, wherein an optical signal pair including two of the first, second and third optical signals is provided to the optical output for imaging the sample.

Disclosed is an optical component, being configured to function as an optical frequency converter in a broadband radiation source device. The optical component comprises a gas cell, and a hollow-core photonic crystal fiber at least partially enclosed within said gas cell. The local cavity volume of said gas cell, where said hollow-core photonic crystal fiber is enclosed within the gas cell, comprises a maximum value of 36 cm.sup.3 per cm of length of said hollow-core photonic crystal fiber.

A broadband light source device for creating broadband light pulses includes a hollow-core fiber and a pump laser source device. The hollow-core fiber is configured to create the broadband light pulses by an optical non-linear broadening of pump laser pulses. The hollow-core fiber includes a filling gas, an axial hollow light guiding fiber core configured to support core modes of a guided light field, and an inner fiber structure surrounding the fiber core and configured to support transverse wall modes of the guided light field. The pump laser source device is configured to create and provide the pump laser pulses at an input side of the hollow-core fiber. The transverse wall modes include a fundamental transverse wall mode and second and higher order transverse wall modes.

A system and process scans a target area at a distance of 3-30 m for one or more materials. Scanning is performed by a coherent transmit beam aimed with the help of a thermal camera. The active source of the beam is a supercontinuum (SC) laser. The transmitted source beam is modulated by a high-speed Fourier-transform spectrometer prior to interaction with the target. Target reflected source beam is detected by an infrared detector, along with a reference portion of the transmitted source beam, as a series of interferograms; passed through a digitizer for digitizing the interferograms; and processed to producing spectrograms, wherein the spectrograms are indicative of one or more materials on the target.

Some embodiments are directed to a generating device, including a pulse laser source providing primary photons having at least one wavelength, shaping device(s) acting on the primary photons to provide an input beam, a nonlinear crystal, and controller(s) generating, in the nonlinear crystal, at least one electric field that is synchronous with the input beam and suitable for inducing a phase mismatching in the nonlinear crystal through an electro-optical effect, in order to convert the primary photons of the input beam into secondary photons having wavelengths belonging to a supercontinuum.

A microstructured optical fiber including a core region and a cladding region which surrounds the core region. The cladding region includes a plurality of cladding features within a cladding background material, wherein the cladding region includes an inner cladding region with at least one inner ring of cladding features and an outer cladding region with at least three outer cladding rings of outer cladding features. The inner cladding features have a first characteristic diameter and the outer cladding region includes a plurality of outer cladding features having a characteristic diameter smaller than the first characteristic diameter. The first characteristic diameter is at least about 10% larger than an average diameter of the outer cladding features and the core region has a diameter of at least about 2 m. A cascade optical fiber with at least one fiber as described, as well as a source of optical supercontinuum generation.

A supercontinuum radiation source for an alignment mark measurement system comprises: a radiation source; illumination optics; a plurality of waveguides; and collection optics. The radiation source is operable to produce a pulsed radiation beam. The illumination optics is arranged to receive the pulsed pump radiation beam and to form a plurality of pulsed sub-beams, each pulsed sub-beam comprising a portion of the pulsed radiation beam. Each of the plurality of waveguides is arranged to receive at least one of the plurality of pulsed sub-beams beam and to broaden a spectrum of that pulsed sub-beam so as to generate a supercontinuum sub-beam. The collection optics is arranged to receive the supercontinuum sub-beam from each of the plurality of waveguides and to combine them so as to form a supercontinuum radiation beam.

A broadband light source device (100) for creating broadband light pulses (1) comprises a hollow-core fiber (10) of non-bandgap type including a filling gas and being arranged for creating the broadband light pulses (1) by an optical nonlinear broadening of pump laser pulses (2), wherein the hollow-core fiber (10) has an axial hollow light guiding fiber core (11), which supports core modes of a guided light field, and an inner fiber structure (12), which surrounds the fiber core (11) and which supports transverse wall modes of the guided light field, and a pump laser source device (20) being arranged for creating and providing the pump laser pulses (2) at an input side (13) of the hollow-core fiber (10), wherein the transverse wall modes include a fundamental transverse wall mode and second and higher order transverse wall modes, the broadband light pulses (1) have a core mode spectrum being determined by a fiber length, a fiber core diameter, at least one pump pulse and/or beam parameter of the pump laser pulses (2) and at least one gas parameter of the filling gas, and the inner fiber structure (12) of the hollow-core fiber (10) is configured such that at least the second and higher order transverse wall modes and the core mode spectrum have a spectral displacement relative to each other. Furthermore, a method of creating broadband light pulses is described.

Systems and methods for stabilizing mid-infrared light generated by difference frequency mixing may include a mode locked Er fiber laser that generates pulses, which are split into a pump arm and a wavelength shifting, signal arm. Pump arm pulses are amplified in Er doped fiber. Shifting arm pulses are amplified in Er doped fiber and shifted to longer wavelengths in Raman-shifting fiber or highly nonlinear fiber, where they may be further amplified by Tm doped fiber, and then optionally further wavelength shifted. Pulses from the two arms can be combined in a nonlinear crystal such as orientation-patterned gallium phosphide, producing a mid-infrared difference frequency, as well as nonlinear combinations (e.g., sum frequency) having near infrared and visible wavelengths. Optical power stabilization can be achieved using two wavelength ranges with spectral filtering and multiple detectors acquiring information for feedback control. Controlled fiber bending can be used to stabilize optical power.

Utilities (e.g., systems, methods, etc.) that make use of a secure input/output (I/O) channel between system firmware (e.g., BIOS) and the SP to allow the BIOS to securely send data (e.g., error data) for secure consumption by the SP while preventing or limiting other sources from sending falsified data or the like the SP. The secure I/O channel includes interface hardware (e.g., Field-programmable gate array (FPGA)) that is configured to be unlocked by the BIOS using a security key received from a key generator over a separate security channel. After such data is securely sent to the interface hardware, the BIOS may then pass error interrupt(s) to the OS for performing of any necessary recovery actions. At any appropriate time, the SP may read or consume error data from the memory register of the interface hardware and perform any appropriate diagnoses and/or handling of the error data.