高速光脉冲的测量方法

 综述了目前国际上公认的测量高速光脉冲的几种方法，主要包括电光条纹相机（SC）、快速脉冲取样、二次谐波产生（SHG）、频率分辨光学门（FROG）以及光谱相位干涉直接电场重建（SPIDER）等。详细地阐述和分析了这些方法的原理、特点、适用范围以及它们的研究现状。     

Complete characterization of weak ultra-short near-UV pulses by spectral interferometry

We present a method for a complete characterization of a femtosecond ultraviolet pulse when a fundamental near-infrared beam is also available. Our approach relies on generation of the second harmonic from the pre-characterized fundamental, which serves as a reference against which an unknown pulse is measured using spectral interferometry (SI). The characterization apparatus is a modified second harmonic frequency resolved optical gating setup which additionally allows for taking SI spectra. The presented method is linear in the unknown field, simple and sensitive. We checked its accuracy using test pulses generated in a thick nonlinear crystal, demonstrating the ability to measure the phase in a broad spectral range, down to 0.1% peak spectral intensity as well as retrieving π leaps in the spectral phase. PACS 42.65.Ky; 42.65.Re     

Pulse‐shape instabilities and their measurement

Multi‐shot pulse‐shape measurements of trains of ultrashort pulses with unstable pulse shapes are studied. Measurement techniques considered include spectral‐phase interferometry for direct electric‐field reconstruction (SPIDER), second harmonic generation frequency‐resolved optical gating (FROG), polarization gate FROG, and cross‐correlation FROG. An analytical calculation and simulations show that SPIDER cannot see unstable pulse‐shape components and only measures the coherent artifact. Further, the presence of this instability cannot be distinguished from benign misalignment effects in SPIDER. FROG methods yield a better, although necessarily rough, estimate of the pulse shape and also indicate instability by exhibiting disagreement between measured and retrieved traces. Only good agreement between measured and retrieved FROG traces or 100% SPIDER fringe visibility guarantees a stable pulse train.     

Compression dynamics for phase-modulated few-cycle pulses

A theory of compression of short optical pulses with quadratic phase modulation in a dispersive medium has been developed. The results of numerical simulation of the equation for the light wave field are reported. The conditions are found at which a pulse is compressed to one oscillation period. The optimal phase modulation index providing the maximum pulse compression is estimated.     

利用调制的偏振态门控制阿秒脉冲的产生

提出一种利用多光周期驱动脉冲获得极紫外宽带超连续谱的新方法.利用波长为1600nm的基频场组成的偏振态门增强高次谐波产生效率对椭扁率的依赖,并叠加上波长为800nm的倍频场来调制电离比率.计算结果表明,采用脉冲宽度为6个光周期(32.4fs)的基频脉冲就能够将高次谐波辐射限制在0.5个光周期内,获得了带宽为280eV的超连续谱,这个谱宽支持傅里叶极限为10as的单个脉冲输出.直接选取超连续谱上的一段,可以获得100as的脉冲输出.此外,在调制的偏振态门中可以使用相对延迟较小的两束基频光组成偏振态门,提高了 关键词： 阿秒脉冲 超连续谱 偏振态门     

Amplitude and phase characterization of weak blue ultrashort pulses by downconversion

We present difference-frequency generation cross-correlation frequency-resolved optical gating, a new method of characterizing the amplitude and phase of weak ultrashort pulses in the blue spectral region. The method uses the spectrally resolved downconversion signal of the blue pulse and a fully characterized reference pulse with a lower center frequency. The amplitude and phase of the blue test pulse are retrieved from the corresponding spectrogram and electric field of the reference pulse with an interactive Fourier-transform algorithm.     

Broadband THz emission from gas plasmas induced by femtosecond optical pulses: From fundamentals to applications

We review the generation of broadband THz radiation from femtosecond photo‐induced gas plasmas, with an emphasis on the highly efficient “AC‐bias” case where the plasma is generated and driven by a superposition of fundamental and second‐harmonic optical fields. The dependence on experimental parameters such as pulse energy, air pressure, polarization and focusing are presented, and compared to the predictions from semi‐quantitative models for the THz generation process, namely (i) a microscopic photocurrent model and (ii) a four‐wave mixing model. We also employ these models to the case of few‐cycle pulses, where the observed THz emission is related directly to the carrier‐envelope phase of the pulses, and hence provides a mechanism with which to measure this phase.}     

Generation of 88 as Isolated Attosecond Pulses with Double Optical Gating

Isolated attosecond pulses with a duration of 88 as are generated in the spectral range of 29-72 eV using double optical gating technique.The gate width is set to be shorter than half the optical cycle to avoid carrier envelop phase stabilization of the 4.2 fs driving laser pulses centered at 800 nm.The attosecond pulse duration is measured with the technique of frequency resolved optical gating for complete reconstruction of attosecond bursts.     

飞秒激光脉冲的谐波频率分辨光学开关法测量研究

建立了一台谐波频率分辨光学开关法(FROG)飞秒脉冲测量装置，利用该装置进行了掺钛蓝宝石飞秒激光脉冲的测量研究.在二次谐波自相关测得的时域和频域信号基础上，结合对信号光强度分布的计算机迭代处理，得到了有关飞秒激光电场、光谱及其相位的信息，所得脉宽与干涉测量的结果基本一致. 关键词： 频率分辨光学开关法(FROG) 迭代计算 飞秒激光 自相关     

Attosecond pulse trains generated using two color laser fields

We investigate the spectral and temporal structure of high harmonic emission from argon exposed to an infrared laser field and its second harmonic. For a wide range of generating conditions, trains of attosecond pulses with only one pulse per infrared cycle are generated. The synchronization necessary for producing such trains ensures that they have a stable pulse-to-pulse carrier envelope phase, unlike trains generated from one color fields, which have two pulses per cycle and a pi phase shift between consecutive pulses. Our experiment extends the generation of phase stabilized few cycle pulses to the extreme ultraviolet regime.     

Isolated attosecond pulses using a detuned second-harmonic field

Calculations are presented for the generation of an isolated attosecond pulse in a multicycle two-color strong-field regime. We show that the recollision of the electron wave packet can be confined to half an optical cycle using pulses of up to 40 fs in duration. The scheme is proven to be efficient using two intense beams, one producing a strong field at omega and the other a strong field detuned from 2omega. The slight detuning deltaomega of the second harmonic is used to break the symmetry of the electric field over many optical cycles and provides a coherent control for the formation of an isolated attosecond pulse.     

Measurement of the intensity-dependent atomic dipole phase of a high harmonic by frequency-resolved optical gating

The temporal profile and phase of the fifth harmonic of a Ti:sapphire laser were fully characterized by two-photon ionization frequency-resolved optical gating technique for the first time. The fifth harmonic was found to have negative chirp and the pulse compression was demonstrated. The negative chirp is well explained by using a zero-range potential model. This technique is scalable to extreme ultraviolet (XUV) and soft x-ray regions by using currently available light sources, making it possible to measure the pulse duration and phase of vacuum ultraviolet, XUV, and soft x-ray pulses.     

外光注入半导体激光器实现重复速率可调全光时钟分频

采用Fabry-Perot半导体激光器作为全光时钟分频器件,利用光注入半导体激光器产生的非线性动力学特性,实现了光脉冲的重复速率在9.0 GHz到19.8 GHz范围内连续可调的全光时钟分频. 同时利用半导体激光器速率方程,对脉冲光注入半导体激光器产生时钟分频进行了数值模拟. 实验和模拟结果表明半导体激光器在光注入的驱动下处于一周期振荡状态,当一周期振荡的二次谐波频率接近脉冲光的重复速率时,其二次谐波和基频被脉冲光同时锁定,此时将输出频率为脉冲光重复速率一半的时钟信号. 同时研究了波长失谐量和注入光功率对 关键词： 周期振荡 时钟分频 光注入 非线性动力学     

Few‐optical‐cycle light pulses with passive carrier‐envelope phase stabilization

One of the most advanced frontiers of ultrafast optics is the control of carrier‐envelope phase (CEP) ϕ of light pulses, which enables the generation of optical waveforms with reproducible electric field profile. Such control is important for pulses with few‐optical‐cycle duration, for which a CEP variation produces a strong change in the waveform, so that strongly nonlinear optical phenomena, such as multiphoton absorption, above‐threshold ionization and high‐harmonic generation become CEP‐dependent. In particular, CEP control is the prerequisite for the production of isolated attosecond pulses. Standard laser systems generate pulses that are CEP unstable; the CEP can be stabilized using either active or passive methods. Passive, all‐optical schemes rely on difference‐frequency generation (DFG) between two pulses sharing the same CEP: in this process the phases of the two pulses add up with opposite signs, leading to cancellation of the shot‐to‐shot CEP fluctuations. This paper presents an overview of passive CEP stabilization schemes, starting from the basic concepts and progressing to the details of the practical implementations of the idea. The passive approach allows the generation of CEP‐controlled few‐optical‐cycle pulses covering a very broad range of parameters in terms of carrier frequency (from visible to mid‐IR), energy (up to several mJs) and repetition rate (up to hundreds of kHz)     

Attosecond temporal gating with elliptically polarized light

Temporal gating allows high accuracy time-resolved measurements of a broad range of ultrafast processes. By manipulating the interaction between an atom and an intense laser field, we extend gating into the nonlinear medium in which attosecond optical and electron pulses are generated. Our gate is an amplitude gate induced by ellipticity of the fundamental pulse. The gate modulates the spectrum of the high harmonic emission and we use the measured modulation to characterize the sub-laser-cycle dynamics of the recollision electron wave packet.     

Accurate determination of the absolute phase and temporal-pulse phase of few-cycle laser pulses

A Fourier analysis method is used to accurately determine not only the absolute phase but also the temporal-pulse phase of an isolated few-cycle (chirped) laser pulse. This method is independent of the pulse shape and can fully characterize the light wave even though only a few samples per optical cycle are available. It paves the way for investigating the absolute phase-dependent extreme nonlinear optics, and the evolutions of the absolute phase and the temporal-pulse phase of few-cycle laser pulses.     

Characterization of elliptically polarized femtosecond pulses by molecular-alignment-based frequency resolved optical gating

We demonstrated that molecular-alignment-based cross-correlation frequency resolved optical gating (M-XFROG) could be used for complete characterization of elliptically polarized femtosecond pulses by measuring the orthogonal linear polarization components and the additional polarization projection at 45 degree of the target pulse. The electric field orientation, polarization ellipticity angles, and phase information of the target pulse were also obtained. The transiently aligned air molecules functioned as a linear optical gating function in the measurement processes. The validity and robustness of M-XFROG were confirmed by the comparison between the retrieved optical gating function and measured molecular alignment signal in air.     

Experimental analysis of phase conjugation properties of four-wave mixing in an SOA after probe broadening due to fibre dispersion

Experimental results are presented which analyze the phase conjugation properties of four-wave mixing signals generated due to the beating between probe pulses broadened by a length of fibre and narrow pump pulses. This results in four-wave mixing pulses significantly narrower than the injected probe pulses albeit with reduced phase conjugation properties, which are examined. The pulses are completely characterized using the second-harmonic generation frequency resolved optical gating technique. The probe pulse is initially broadened due to propagation through 40 m of dispersion compensating fibre. This causes the probe pulse to be much wider than the injected pump pulse, in contrast to previously reported results. The four-wave mixing signal is therefore both wavelength converted and compressed, due to the gating properties of four-wave mixing, with respect to the initial probe signal. The phase conjugation properties of the converted signal are discussed and this signal is then passed through a second length of dispersion compensating fibre in order to further compress the pulse and to examine in more detail the phase conjugation properties.     

用SHG-FROG方法测量超短光脉冲的振幅和相位

介绍了二次谐波振荡频率分辨光学快门(SHGFROG)测量超短脉冲的实验系统和二维相位恢复算法,这种方法可以实现对超短脉冲振幅和相位的完全测量.利用矩阵方法数值模拟了几种常见超短脉冲的SHGFROG迹线,并用主元素广义投影算法(PCGPA)从这些无噪音的SHGFROG迹线中恢复了脉冲的振幅和相位,误差接近收敛的标准.研究结果表明,这种测量方法结构简单,算法可靠,是测量超短脉冲的理想方法之一.     

基于瞬态光栅频率分辨光学开关法测量飞秒脉冲的研究

超宽光谱的飞秒脉冲测量一直是超快激光领域的重要研究方向之一.常规的飞秒脉冲自相关方法是通过测量自相关倍频信号来获得,而倍频信号具有波长选择性,不同中心波长的飞秒脉冲测量需要更换不同的倍频晶体,十分不方便.因此,提出了一种改进型的瞬态光栅频率分辨光学开关(TG-FROG)方法用于测量飞秒脉冲.该方法结合四波混频和频率分辨光学开关方法,其基本过程是将待测脉冲分为三束,其中两束脉冲经过精密的延时控制并聚焦在光学介质上达到时空重合,利用三阶非线性效应产生稳定的瞬态光栅作为开关光;另一束脉冲作为探测光与产生的瞬态光栅进行相互作用产生一个信号光,使用光谱仪对该信号光的光谱与延迟时间进行测量,并通过反演迭代算法处理而获取待测飞秒脉冲的光谱与电场信息.该方法只需要待测光的功率密度达到三阶非线性效应就可以实现测量,因此可以应用于任意中心波长的飞秒脉冲测量.利用该方法对中心波长分别为800 nm, 400 nm的飞秒脉冲,以及超连续亚10 fs的周期量级超宽光谱飞秒脉冲进行了测量,并与常规的干涉自相关仪器测量结果进行了比较,所得测量结果基本一致.实验结果表明,建立的基于TG-FROG方法对不同中心波长,不同脉冲宽度的飞秒脉冲测量是十分有效的.