Active Control of Rogue Waves for Stimulated Supercontinuum Generation

We demonstrate that rogue waves provide a powerful tool to actively control a nonlinear system with minimal effort. Specifically, optical rogue waves—rare, bright flashes of broadband light arising in subthreshold supercontinuum generation—are initiated by an exceedingly weak stimulus. Using this effect, we produce an optically switchable, ultrastable, and bright supercontinuum with greatly enhanced coherence.