A 125 MHz fiber-based frequency comb source in the mid-infrared wavelength region is presented. The source is based on difference frequency generation from a polarization-maintaining Er-doped fiber pump laser and covers a spectrum between 2900 cm^-1 and 3400 cm^-1 with a simultaneous bandwidth of 170 cm^-1 and an average output power up to 70 mW. The source is equipped with actuators and active feedback loops, ensuring long-term stability of the repetition rate, output power, and spectral envelope. An absorption spectrum of ethane and methane was measured using a Fourier transform spectrometer to verify the applicability of the mid-infrared comb to multispecies detection. The robustness and good long- and short-term stability of the source make it suitable for optical frequency comb spectroscopy of hydrocarbons.

We report an all-fiber, all-polarization maintaining (PM) source of widely tunable (1800–2000 nm) ultrashort pulses based on the amplification of coherent self-frequency-shifted solitons generated in a highly nonlinear fiber pumped with an Er-doped fiber laser. The system delivers sub-100 fs pulses with energies up to 8.6 nJ and is built entirely from PM optical fibers, without any free-space optics. The all-fiber alignment-free design significantly increases the suitability of such a source for field deployments.