Generation and Control of Optical Rogue Waves

Research | Generation and Control of Optical Rogue Waves

Using real-time measurements, we have discovered a new phenomenon known as optical rogue waves, counterparts of the freak ocean waves thought to be responsible for destruction of ships on the open sea. Optical rogue waves arise in supercontinuum generation, a nonlinear process in which broadband radiation is generated from a narrowband light. By actively controlling the process behind the generation of rogue waves, we have shown that it is possible to produce a more stable and coherent white light source, which has the potential to impact many applications.

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[3] D. R. Solli, C. Ropers, and B. Jalali, “Active control of rogue waves for stimulated supercontinuum generation,” Physical Review Letters 101, 233902 (2008)
[4] D. R. Solli, C. Ropers, P. Koonath, and B. Jalali, “Optical rogue waves,” Nature 450, 1054 (2007)