  We investigate supercontinuum generation in several suspended-core soft-glass
photonic crystal fibers pumped by an optical parametric oscillator tunable
around 1550 nm. The fibers were drawn from lead-bismuth-gallium-cadmium-oxide
glass (PBG-81) with a wide transmission window from 0.5-2.7 micron and a high
nonlinear refractive index up to 4.3.10^(-19) m^2/W. They have been
specifically designed with a microscale suspended hexagonal core for efficient
supercontinuum generation around 1550 nm. We experimentally demonstrate two
supercontinuum spectra spanning from 1.07-2.31 micron and 0.89-2.46 micron by
pumping two PCFs in both normal and anomalous dispersion regimes, respectively.
We also numerically model the group velocity dispersion curves for these fibers
from their scanning electron microscope images. Results are in good agreement
with numerical simulations based on the generalized nonlinear Schrodinger
equation including the pump frequency chirp.
