Ultrashort pulse temporal contrast enhancement based on noncollinear optical-parametric amplification

A pulse clean technique in time domain combining noncollinear optical-parametric amplification and second-harmonic generation is demonstrated. The measurement-limited >10(10) temporal contrast ratio of the 0.5?mJ/40?fs pulse near 800?nm is obtained over a large temporal range extending from <1?ps before the main pulse. The contrast ratio enhancement as fourth power of the initial contrast is demonstrated. The total efficiency is >6% for the 8.2?mJ/40?fs initial incident femtosecond pulse.     

Large temporal window contrast measurement using optical parametric amplification and low-sensitivity detectors

To address few-shot pulse contrast measurement, we present a correlator coupling the high gain of an optical parametric amplification scheme with large pulse tilt. This combination enables a low sensitivity charge coupled device (CCD) to observe features in the pulse intensity within a 50 ps single-shot window with inter-window dynamic range >10⁷ and <0.5 mJ input energy. We also consider use of optical densities to boost the CCD dynamic range within a single temporal window.     

Dynamics of the formation of laser-induced periodic surface structures on dielectrics and semiconductors upon femtosecond laser pulse irradiation sequences

The formation of laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS) upon irradiation of fused silica and silicon with multiple (N _DPS) irradiation sequences consisting of linearly polarized femtosecond laser pulse pairs (pulse duration ～150 fs, central wavelength ～800 nm) is studied experimentally. Nearly equal-energy double-pulse sequences are generated allowing the temporal pulse delay Δt between the cross-polarized individual fs-laser pulses to be varied from ?40 ps to +40 ps with a resolution of ～0.2 ps. The surface morphologies of the irradiated surface areas are characterized by means of scanning electron and scanning force microscopy. Particularly for dielectrics in the sub-ps delay range striking differences in the orientation and spatial characteristics of the LIPSS can be observed. For fused silica, a significant decrease of the LIPSS spatial periods from ～790 nm towards ～550 nm is demonstrated for delay changes of less than ～2 ps. In contrast, for silicon under similar irradiation conditions, the LIPSS periods remain constant (～760 nm) for delays up to 40 ps. The results prove the impact of laser-induced electrons in the conduction band of the solid and associated transient changes of the optical properties on fs-LIPSS formation.     

Observation of postsoliton expansion following laser propagation through an underdense plasma

The expansion of electromagnetic postsolitons emerging from the interaction of a 30 ps, 3×101? W?cm?2 laser pulse with an underdense deuterium plasma has been observed up to 100 ps after the pulse propagation, when large numbers of postsolitons were seen to remain in the plasma. The temporal evolution of the postsolitons has been accurately characterized with a high spatial and temporal resolution. The observed expansion is compared to analytical models and three-dimensional particle-in-cell results, revealing a polarization dependence of the postsoliton dynamics.     

Pump-noise transfer in optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification

We report on direct observation of temporal contrast degradation of short pulses amplified by optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification. We show that, despite injection seeding, quantum-noise-induced fast modulations (< 50 ps) of the temporal profile of the pump pulse are imprinted on the spectrum of the amplified chirped pulse and give rise to a large picosecond pedestal in the time domain.     

Hundred mJ, sub-picoseconds, high temporal contrast OPCPA/Yb:YAG ceramic thin disk hybrid laser system

The authors have demonstrated an optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification (OPCPA)/Yb:YAG ceramic thin disk hybrid laser system having hundred mJ level pulse energy sub-picosecond pulse duration with high temporal contrast. At an input chirped-pulse energy of 3.8?mJ from an OPCPA preamplifier an output energy of 130?mJ has been generated from multipass diode-pumped Yb:YAG ceramic thin disk amplifier. A recompressed pulse duration of 450?fs with a contrast level of less than 7.2×10^?9 at ?150?ps before the main pulse has been obtained. The contrast level is the highest value achieved in Yb:YAG chirped-pulse amplification (CPA) laser system at 100?mJ level.     

激发态之间的电离与复合过程对类氖锗19.6nm X射线激光增益系数的影响

考察了激发态之间的电离与复合过程对等离子体状态的影响,并对其原因进行了细致的分析,分别考察了对1.0ns,100ps和5ps激光驱动的类氖锗19.6nm Ｘ射线激光增益系数的影响.研究表明,对于5ps激光驱动的瞬态机理X射线激光来讲,因增益区处在高密度区,所以,激发态之间的电离与复合过程对X射线激光将不可以忽略.对于1.0ns和100ps激光驱动的亚稳态机理X射线激光来讲,在电子密度小于等于5×10²⁰cm^－3的区域,忽略激发态之间的电离与复合使增益的时间半高全 关键词： X射线激光 矩阵分块法 类氖锗 双电子激发态     

High-contrast optical-parametric amplifier as a front end of high-power laser systems

A high-contrast preamplifier based on optical-parametric amplification with a short pump pulse is demonstrated. A gain larger than 10(5) and measurement-limited contrast higher than 10(11) are obtained over a large temporal range extending within less than 10 ps of the peak of the pulse, because of the high instantaneous parametric gain provided by a short pump pulse in a nonlinear crystal. The energy gain and high contrast of this preamplifier make it a good seed source for high-power laser systems.     

An ultrafast all-optical asymmetric Fabry-Pérot switch based on bulk Be-doped InGaAsP grown by He-plasma-assisted epitaxy

We demonstrated ultrafast all-optical switching, using an asymmetric Fabry-Pérot device, based on bulk Be-doped InGaAsP grown by He-plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. We achieved 5 ps switching window (1/e fall time) and a peak contrast ratio of 20 dB at 1.57 μm. High contrast (> 10 dB) was maintained over ～24 nm of bandwidth under switching energy density of 0.5 pJ/μm², and over ～40 nm of bandwidth when switching energy density was increased to 1.4 pJ/μm². The switching operation was independent of data pulse polarization, and could be potentially performed at high repetition rates.     

Pico-second photoelectric characteristic in manganite oxide La0.67Ca0.33MnO3 films

Ultrafast photoelectric characteristic has been observed in La_0.67Ca_0.33MnO₃ films on tilted SrTiO₃ substrates. A pico-second (ps) open-circuit photovoltage of the perovskite manganese oxide films has been obtained when the films were irradiated by a 1.064μm laser pulse of 25 ps duration. The rise time and full width at half-maximum of the photovoltage pulse are ～300 ps and ～700 ps, respectively. The photovoltaic sensitivity was as large as ～500 mV/mJ.     

Dual sub-picosecond and sub-nanosecond laser system

A high power laser system delivering a 20-TW, 0.5-0.8 ps ultra-short laser pulse and a 20-J, 500-ps long pulse simultaneously in one shot is completed. This two-beam laser operates at the wavelength of 1053 nm and uses Nd doped glass as the gain media of the main amplification chain. The chirped-pulse amplification (CPA) technology is used to compress the stretched laser pulse. After compression, the ultra-short laser pulse is measured: energy above 16.0 J, S/N contrast ratio-10~5 : 1, filling factor->52.7%. Another long pulse beam is a non-compressed chirped laser pulse, which is measured: energy-20 J, pulse duration 500 ps. The two beams are directed onto the target surface at an angle of 15°.     

Real-time measurement of temporal waveforms of a terahertz pulse using a probe pulse with a tilted pulse front

We propose a novel method that uses a femtosecond pulse with a tilted pulse front as a probe pulse to perform real-time measurement of temporal waveforms of a terahertz pulse. This method can operate on a single shot in principle. Real-time measurement of the terahertz pulse was achieved using the dynamic subtraction method with a synchronized high-speed complimentary metal-oxide semiconductor sensor. A time window of 2.6 ps was achieved. This value agrees well with results that were calculated theoretically and measured by an interferometric inverted field autocorrelator.     

基于FPGA的高分辨率数字时间转换器

针对全固态直线变压器驱动源（LTD）中大规模开关同步触发的需求,基于游标法和预相移技术设计了一种全新的双通道同步高分辨率数字时间转换器（DTC）。在原有游标DTC的基础上提前计算不同生成脉冲相位重合位置的关系,通过相位移动和相位检测使时钟信号提前满足相位关系,以实现同时触发多个不同宽度脉冲信号的目的。详细阐述了DTC的实现原理和电路设计模块,并对其进行了仿真和现场可编程门阵列（FPGA）实现,同时对实现结果进行测试、分析和讨论。在Xilinx ARTIX-7 FPGA开发板上实现了第一个脉冲信号的分辨率为0.85 ps,微分非线性（DNL）和积分非线性（INL）分别为-1.255～1.166 LSB和-7.33～7.05 LSB。第二个脉冲信号分辨率为17.113 1 ps, DNL和INL分别为-0.0987～0.105 LSB和-0.717～0.735 LSB,且在0～80℃的环境温度中依旧可以保证DTC的性能。结果表明此DTC具有实现简单、成本低,性能高效等优点。     

Spectral enhancement in the double pulse regime of laser proton acceleration

The use of two separate ultraintense laser pulses in laser-proton acceleration was compared to the single pulse case employing the same total laser energy. A double pulse profile, with the temporal separation of the pulses varied between 0.75-2.5?ps, was shown to result in an increased maximum proton energy and an increase in conversion efficiency to fast protons by up to a factor of 3.3. Particle-in-cell simulations indicate the existence of a two stage acceleration process. The second phase, induced by the main pulse preferentially accelerates slower protons located deeper in the plasma, in contrast to conventional target normal sheath acceleration.     

Theoretical Analysis on scanning spectral filter based on the bi-refraction electro-optical interferometer for pulse contrast improvement in femtosecond laser

A spectral scanning filter method to improve the pulse contrast in the femtosecond chains is proposed, which is made using of the character that the instantaneous frequency varies with the time approximately linearly for the chirped pulse in the time-frequency domain. A spectral scanning filter based on the bi-refraction electro-optical interferometer is proposed and analyzed. The spectral scanning filter for reducing the ASE intensity is analyzed in the time–frequency domain by using the Short-Time Fourier Transformation method. The results show that the pulse contrast can be improved by two orders, and the transmission efficiency of the chirped pulse can exceed 85% when the synchronizing time jitter ranges from ? 50 ps to 50 ps adopting the cascaded filter method. The great advantage of this novel nonlinear spectral filter technology fits the high energy and high peak intensity femtosecond chains for it filters the ASE in the near field in temporal domain.     

微微秒自动调谐参量激光的研究

采用一对MgO:LiNbO_3角度调谐覆盖了红近外波段0.7～2.2μm,并配以自动波长扫描。文中分析了影响脉冲宽度与线宽的因素,与实验结果相吻合。脉宽<30ps,线宽～1nm(简并波长附近～10nm),单脉冲峰功率达MW级,参量光总能量转换效率达5.4％。     

微微秒超短脉冲的光学压缩

在研究了短光纤(L～L_w)中受激喇曼散射的斯托克斯脉冲对基波脉冲能量箝位效应的基础上进行了脉冲压缩实验。以高泵浦功率(P=1600W)注入长度为8.95m绿光单模光纤中,采用双光程的光栅对压缩结构,并引入空间频率窗口滤除自相位调制光谱的非线性啁啾部分,将40ps的锁模Nd:YAG倍频光脉压缩至<5ps。     

Ultra-high-contrast few-cycle pulses for multipetawatt-class laser technology

We report the generation of few-cycle multiterawatt light pulses with a temporal contrast of 10(10), when measured as close as 2 ps to the pulse's peak. Tens of picoseconds before the main pulse, the contrast value is expected to spread much beyond the measurement limit. Separate measurements of contrast improvement factors at different stages of the laser system indicate that real contrast values may reach 10(19) and 10(14), when measured 50 and 25 ps before the pulse's peak, respectively. The combination of the shortest pulse duration and the highest contrast renders our system a promising front-end architecture for future multipetawatt laser facilities.     

Effect of the spectral distribution of a chirped pulse on the interaction of the high-power laser radiation with matter

The interaction of high-power picosecond laser radiation with solid targets is experimentally studied for the first time at various spectral distributions of a chirped laser pulse. The interaction of the high-power laser radiation with the target is studied at four regimes of the experimental setup: (i) at a relatively high contrast (10³) in the picosecond (Δt ～ 25 ps) range, (ii) at a relatively low contrast (3 × 10¹) in the picosecond (Δt ～ 25 ps) range, (iii) with spectral distortions of the chirped pulse, and (iv) with a strongly modulated spectrum of the chirped pulse. The results obtained reveal a strong dependence of the atomic and nuclear processes in the laser picosecond plasma on the spectral distribution of the chirped laser pulse. The prospects for the application of the spectral interferometry of chirped pulses for the online control of the parameters of the high-power laser radiation are demonstrated.     

High-dynamic range pulse-contrast measurements of a broadband optical parametric chirped-pulse amplifier

We report on the pulse contrast-ratio characterization of a few-cycle 0.2 TW optical parametric chirped pulse amplifier system operating at 20 Hz. A specially designed third-order correlator was used to characterize and optimize the contrast of the system. We demonstrate that the pulse contrast depends much more on the temporal overlap between the pump and the seed pulse than the shape of the amplified spectrum. The best amplified pulse contrast-ratio was 10^-4 at Δt=±25 ps and >10^-9 at Δt=±150 ps delays. PACS 42.65.Vj; 42.65.Re