A broadband optical spectrum generating apparatus 20 includes a ultrashort
pulsed fiber laser 22 that generates pulsed light having a pulse width in
the unit of picosecond to femtosecond, and broadband optical spectrum-generating
optical fibers 24 that are connected with the ultrashort pulse fiber laser
22 via a lens 26 and have characteristics of normal dispersion, that
is, a nonlinear coefficient of not less than 10 [W-;1 km-;1]
and a magnitude of wavelength dispersion of not greater than a value 0 [ps/km/nm]
with regard to a wavelength of the pulsed light. The resulting output is super
continuum that is widely broadened to a wavelength band of 1400 nm to 1750 nm and
is chirped to a linear characteristic.
