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.