基于多光子脉冲内干涉相位扫描法对飞秒激光脉冲进行相位测量和补偿的研究

研制了一套基于多光子脉冲内干涉相位扫描方法的可以同时对飞秒激光脉冲进行相位测量和补偿的实验系统装置.实验中,通过自主研发的LabVIEW程序控制液晶空间光调制器和光纤光谱仪,对待测飞秒激光脉冲施加相位扫描,并同时记录受到调制的飞秒激光脉冲的倍频光谱,得到了多光子脉冲内干涉相位扫描(MIIPS)轨迹图.通过MIIPS轨迹图的三次测量和迭代运算,还原出了经过预先啁啾调制的中心波长约为810 nm、重复频率为1 kHz的飞秒激光脉冲的光谱相位,测量精度在0.1 rad以内.根据测量结果,利用液晶空间光调制器对该飞秒激光脉冲进行相位补偿,得到了近似傅里叶变换极限的飞秒激光脉冲.这一装置将在多光子显微成像、脉冲整形、飞秒激光光谱学等众多领域发挥重要作用.     

非线性克尔效应对飞秒激光偏振的超快调制

研究了近红外飞秒激光的偏振在太赫兹频率的超快调制.利用抽运-探测光谱技术,通过改变两个脉冲之间的延迟时间可以控制光脉冲的旋转角.在Li：NaTb（WO₄）₂磁光晶体中观察到探测光的偏振随延迟时间变化的高速振荡,振荡信号的中心频率为0.19 THz.这种超快偏振调制现象可以解释为,抽运-探测实验构置中,前向传播的抽运光诱导的光学克尔非线性引起被晶体远端表面所反射的背向传播的探测光脉冲偏振面的额外旋转.通过改变抽运光的圆偏振旋性可以控制探测光调制信号的相位和振幅.实验结果表明,非线性光学克尔效应可以作为一种全新的手段,在磁光晶体中实现近红外飞秒激光以太赫兹频率的超快偏振调控.这将在超快磁光调制器等全光器件中得以应用.实验结果将有助于偏振依赖的超快动力学过程的研究.     

液晶空间光调制器光谱整形的理论研究

 将液晶空间光调制器用于超高斯种子脉冲光谱整形,重点分析了调制器参数对压缩脉冲信噪比的影响,以此为依据对其结构参数进行优化设计,以降低其影响。对整形、放大及压缩过程的理论模拟表明:应用液晶空间光调制器进行光谱整形时,能够有效克服钕玻璃啁啾脉冲放大系统的非线性效应,在放大器输出端保持原始光谱宽度,但液晶空间光调制器对光谱的调制作用使压缩脉冲信噪比降低。     

横向剪切干涉法共路测量LCSLM的相位调制特性

提出一种测量扭曲向列液晶空间光调制器的相位调制特性的新方法——横向剪切干涉法.对经扭曲向列液晶空间光调制器调制后的待测波面进行横向剪切干涉,用CCD记录其干涉图样,并用最小能量算法计算其波面的相位分布,从而测得扭曲向列液晶空间光调制器的相位调制曲线.该方法对振动、空气扰动不敏感,对测量环境要求不高.给出了TN-LCSLM不同调制状态下相位调制幅度的三维轮廓图.     

基于液晶空间光调制器的脉冲整形系统校准及应用

搭建了反射式光脉冲整形系统,通过改变加载到液晶空间光调制器各像素点的调制电压,测定系统分辨率及调制电压与输出信号光强和相位变化的关系,并对液晶空间光调制器进行校准.实验结果表明:光强随调制电压周期变化,相位随调制电压非线性变化;系统分辨率为10GHz,像素调制间隔为0.08nm,即能够实现对频率间隔10GHz的光信号的调制.应用该系统,以谱线间隔为10GHz的光学频率梳为信号源,对脉冲频谱进行整形,产生了平坦、高斯型、三角、倒三角及光学频率梳信号.     

LC-SLM像素型结构对4f脉冲整形系统的影响

液晶空间光调制器的离散型相位调制和像素间隙是4f脉冲整形系统的主要失真原因,基于以上因素的分析,建立了完善的4f脉冲整形系统数学模型,数值模拟了不同相位调制变化率、不同像元尺寸、不同间隙尺寸以及不同色散关系下的离散型相位调制和像素间隙导致的失真情况。模拟结果表明:离散型相位调制会导致整形脉冲中出现副本脉冲,相位调制变化率越大或像元尺寸越大均会导致这种副本脉冲越强,输出目标脉冲失真越严重;像素间隙也会导致整形脉冲中出现副本脉冲,间隙尺寸越大会导致这种副本脉冲越强,输出目标脉冲失真越严重;两种副本脉冲均呈等间隔分布,其周期由每个像元对应的频谱宽度决定,非线性光谱色散会使副本脉冲啁啾化且强度变小。     

整形飞秒激光脉冲的成丝超连续辐射控制

飞秒激光成丝超连续辐射具有高强度和高时空相干性等优点,作为一种超宽带光源在很多领域都具有广泛的应用前景.本文提出一种结合微透镜阵列的空间调制和基于液晶空间光调制器的时域整形的飞秒激光脉冲整形方式,利用基于遗传算法的反馈优化控制,实现了飞秒激光在熔融石英中成丝产生的超连续辐射强度的调制,得到了在一定范围内光谱强度可控的超连续辐射光谱;光谱的能量密度可以从0.03μJ/nm调制到0.09μJ/nm,其能量密度变化达到了初始值的3倍.计算了典型迭代代数对应的整形脉冲时域包络,分析了超连续光谱随迭代代数的演化趋势,结果表明,脉冲包络的峰值强度和波形分布是影响超连续光谱展宽和强度的主要物理原因.     

利用纯相位型液晶空间光调制器实现空心光束

为了提高激光系统的整体效率,需要将出射光强整形为空心分布。采用纯相位型液晶空间光调制器整形近高斯分布光强到空心分布。基于能量守恒定律和等光程原理,分析了纯相位型液晶空间光调制器光束整形系统,得出了整形系统所需的相位分布。采用衍射光学方法,数值模拟了整形效果,讨论了入射光束束腰半径和强度分布等因素对整形效果的影响。利用纯相位型液晶空间光调制器实验实现了空心光束,实验测得的转换效率大于99%。     

基于共线型双等离子体的双色场辐射太赫兹波频谱调制

提出了一种通过共线型双等离子体的简单方法实现双色场作用下辐射太赫兹波的频谱调制。利用修正的光电流模型,模拟了共线型双等离子体在双色场条件下辐射太赫兹波的频谱分布。通过调节体系的参数,研究了两等离子体间距及激光光强对太赫兹波频谱调制的影响。结果表明,太赫兹频谱分布与两等离子体间距及双色激光强度有关。等离子体间距影响太赫兹波频谱的峰值个数和频移;激光光强虽会影响单个等离子体辐射太赫兹波的峰值频率,但是对于调制的频谱而言只会改变峰值的幅值。     

基于旋转相干光谱的整形飞秒激光转动动力学调控

我们实验上发展了基于飞秒激光旋转相干光谱的整形飞秒激光转动动力学调控方法，通过脉冲整形技术调控激发脉冲的光谱相位，从而实现对飞秒激光作用下转动态相干激发过程中复原信号及转动布居数的调控. 研究了飞秒激光旋转相干光谱对激光频谱相位的响应机制，突出了飞秒激光频谱相位在气相分子转动态相干激发中的重要作用. 为飞秒激光作用下生物大分子和团簇鉴别及结构探测研究提供了新的参考.     

Tailored terahertz pulses from a laser-modulated electron beam

We present a new method to generate steady and tunable, coherent, broadband terahertz radiation from a relativistic electron beam modulated by a femtosecond laser. We have demonstrated this in the electron storage ring at the Advanced Light Source. Interaction of an electron beam with a femtosecond laser pulse copropagating through a wiggler modulates the electron energies within a short slice of the electron bunch with about the same duration of the laser pulse. The bunch develops a longitudinal density perturbation due to the dispersion of electron trajectories, and the resulting hole emits short pulses of temporally and spatially coherent terahertz pulses synchronized to the laser. We present measurements of the intensity and spectra of these pulses. This technique allows tremendous flexibility in shaping the terahertz pulse by appropriate modulation of the laser pulse.     

Terahertz generation from electron- and neutron-irradiated semiconductor crystal surfaces

Terahertz generation from the InP, InSb, GaAs and GaSe crystal surfaces excitated by femtosecond laser pulses has been studied. The terahertz spectra emitted from the native crystals and the crystals previously irradiated by high-energy neutrons or electrons have been recorded. Also, a simulation of the terahertz emission process has been performed. A weak terahertz signal generated from the GaSe native surface has been registered. In the case of electron-irradiated GaSe, the signal is increased several fold because of increased laser radiation absorption.     

Modeling of terahertz radiation emission from a free‐electron laser

In this article, we report the generation of terahertz (THz) radiation using the interaction of a laser‐modulated relativistic electron beam (REB) with a surface plasma wave. Two laser beams propagating through the modulator interact with the REB, leading to velocity modulation of the beam. This results in pre‐bunching of the REB. The pre‐bunched beam travels through the drift space, where the velocity modulation translates into density modulation. The density‐modulated beam, on interacting with the surface plasma pump wave, acquires an oscillatory velocity that couples with the modulated beam density to give rise to a nonlinear current density which acts as an antenna to give THz radiation. By optimizing the parameters of the beam and the wiggler, we obtain power of the order of 10⁻⁴ using the current scheme.     

Typesetting of terahertz waveforms

We demonstrate programmable generation of temporally shaped terahertz waveforms in LiNbO3 by spatially shaping the beam profile of femtosecond excitation laser pulses with a spatial light modulator. The generated terahertz waveforms have amplitudes that are approximately proportional to the first spatial derivative of the excitation beam profile.     

Generation of Terahertz Radiation under the Femtosecond Laser Excitation of a Multilayer Structure Based on a-Si:H/a-SiC:H/c-Si

JETP Letters - Coherent terahertz radiation has been generated in p–n heterostructures based on a-Si:H/a-SiC:H/c-Si excited by 800-nm femtosecond laser pulses at room temperature. Terahertz...     

Terahertz wave modulator based on optically controllable metamaterial

We demonstrated experimentally a terahertz wave modulator based on optically controlled metamaterial. The signal modulation mechanism of the presented terahertz wave modulator was based on the resonance characteristic of metamaterial controlled without or with light excitation. A modulated semiconductor laser with 808 nm wavelength was employed to light the substrate. The interaction between the metamaterial and terahertz wave was strengthened and yielded an appreciable modulation of the terahertz output beam. The modulation speed is 0.1 Kb/s and the modulation depth of the proposed terahertz modulator is about 57% at a frequency of 0.32 THz.     

Modulating and scanning the mode-lock frequency of an 800-MHz femtosecond Ti:sapphire laser

An 800-MHz self-mode-locked femtosecond Ti:sapphire laser has been developed whose mode-lock frequency can be robustly scanned and modulated. The laser is based on the three-element design of Ramaswamy-Paye and Fujimoto [Opt. Lett. 19, 1756 (1994)]. By translation and modulation of the position of the prismatic output coupler, the mode-lock frequency can be reliably scanned more than 1% and modulated at 80 Hz with a deviation of 2.5 kHz without interrupting the mode lock, changing the pulse length, or inducing significant amplitude modulation. An application in tunable high-resolution terahertz spectroscopy is also demonstrated.     

Theoretical model of terahertz radiation generation by laser pulses with tilted wave fronts

A theoretical model is proposed for terahertz radiation generation by femtosecond laser pulses with tilted wave fronts. Self-consistent evolution of the optical and terahertz pulses is investigated. The red shift of the pumping pulse spectrum and the formation of short-long-wave quasi-solitons are examined.     

Influence of cutting off position of plasma filament formed by two-color femtosecond laser on terahertz generation

Femtosecond laser filamentation is a method of generating terahertz, which has wide application in terahertz subwavelength resolution imaging. In this paper, the plasma filament formed by femtosecond laser focusing was terminated with an alumina ceramics at different positions and the influence of the cutting off position of the plasma filament on the terahertz wave was studied. The results showed that the terahertz amplitude increases as the position approaches the end of the filament gradually. The stability of amplitude and peak frequency of the terahertz generated by the filament formed by two-color femtosecond laser via a lens with a longer focal length is lower than that through a lens with a shorter focal length, especially the terahertz amplitude at the end of the filament. The study will be helpful for future researchers in the field of THz sub-wavelength imaging utilizing femtosecond laser filament.     

差频可调谐太赫兹技术的新进展

太赫兹技术在最近30年来得到快速发展, 并在医学、生物、农业、材料、安检、通信、天文等领域得到广泛应用. 从太赫兹源的频谱特性可以分为窄带(单频)太赫兹源和宽带太赫兹源. 从频谱技术方面来说, 相干的宽带和窄带太赫兹谱是一种互补性关系, 具有各自的技术特点和应用范围. 宽带太赫兹谱可以用于快速获取较宽频谱范围的分子振转谱, 实现混合特征谱的快速检测或成像. 窄带太赫兹源具有很好的光谱灵敏度和分辨率, 适用于太赫兹抽运-探测、分子振转能级谱精细结构分辨 以及太赫兹远程探测和成像. 因此研制具有可调谐的高峰值功率的窄带太赫兹源是适用于探测和识别分子振转能级指纹谱的应用需求, 而差频技术是获得高功率和宽调谐窄带太赫兹源最重要的技术之一. 为了突出该技术的最新进展, 本综述引证论文仅仅限于近5 年来基于差频技术产生太赫兹波的研究进展, 分为光学激光差频源和量子级联激光器差频源两大部分. 对于光学激光差频源, 分别对目前文献报道的各种双波长差频源和太赫兹产生用的非线性晶体进行分类介绍, 并给出所采用的技术和实验结果; 对于量子级联激光器差频源, 分别介绍了量子级联激光器中的差频产生技术和波长调谐技术的最新进展. 量子级联激光器差频太赫兹源是目前实现量子级联激光器在太赫兹波段室温运转的惟一技术, 是实现小型化、窄带宽调谐和室温运转太赫兹源的新发展领域, 值得关注.