Selective ionization of oriented nonpolar molecules with asymmetric structure by phase-controlled two-color laser fields

We report on the selective ionization of oriented nonpolar molecules with asymmetric structure by using phase-controlled two-color omega + 2omega laser pulses with an intensity of 1.0 x 10(13) W/cm(2) (tunneling ionization regime) and a pulse duration of 130 fs. The orientation of 1-bromo-2-chloroethane was monitored by the directional asymmetries of the forward-backward emission in dissociative ionization. The observed direction of orientation clearly confirms that molecular orientation is induced not by dynamic orientation but by selective ionization of oriented molecules, which reflects the structure of the highest occupied molecular orbital. This method can be applied for the vast majority of molecules.     

Generation of 12 fs deep-ultraviolet pulses by four-wave mixing through filamentation in neon gas

Generation of deep-ultraviolet femtosecond pulses by four-wave mixing through filamentation in neon gas was demonstrated. Fundamental (omega) and second-harmonic (2omega) pulses of 25 fs Ti:sapphire amplifier output were focused into neon gas, and 20 microJ pulses with the center wavelength of 260 nm were produced by a four-wave mixing process, 2omega+2omega-omega?3omega through an ~15 cm filament. Additionally, pulses with an energy of 2 microJ at 200 nm were generated, probably by a cascaded process, 3omega+2omega-omega?4omega. The 260 nm pulses were compressed by a grating-based compressor and characterized by a dispersion-free transient grating frequency-resolved optical gating. The estimated pulse width was 12 fs.     

线偏振双色激光场中氪原子的阈上电离现象

采用基于Guo,Aberg和Crasemann发展的强激光场中的非微扰量子散射理论(GAC理论),研究了线偏振双色激光场中氪(Kr)原子阈上电离的光电子角分布,双色激光场由一系列相同的单周期激光脉冲组成.研究发现光电子角分布有强烈的位相依赖关系,且呈现出反演不对称性、喷射结构和展宽结构等现象,这为实验上通过改变双色激光场的相对相位来观察和控制光电子角分布提供了一种有效的方法.     

Coherent control of THz wave generation in ambient air

Our study of THz wave generation in the pulsed laser induced air plasma with individually controlled phase, polarization, and amplitude of the optical fundamental wave (omega) and its second harmonic (2omega) indicates that the third-order nonlinear optical process mixing the omega and 2omega beams in the ionized plasma is the main mechanism of the efficient THz wave generation. The polarity and the strength of the emitted THz field are completely controlled by the relative phase between the omega and 2omega waves. The measured THz field amplitude is proportional to the pulse energy of the fundamental beam and to the square root of the pulse energy of the second-harmonic beam once the total optical pulse energy exceeds the plasma formation threshold. The optimal THz field is achieved when all waves (omega, 2omega, and THz waves) are at the same polarization in the four-wave-mixing process.     

Asymmetric electron-nuclear dynamics in two-color laser fields: laser phase directional control of photofragments in H+2

Exact non-Born-Oppenheimer numerical solutions of the time-dependent Schrodinger equation for the 1D H+2 molecule in an intense, two-color (omega+2omega) laser field have been obtained. Both electron and proton kinetic energy spectra show spatial, correlated, asymmetric distributions. The calculated spectra exhibit the same unusual correlations as in experiments, in which both positively charged nuclear fragments and negatively charged photoelectrons were preferentially emitted in the same direction. The above asymmetries of photoemission of electrons seen in our quantum simulation are interpreted in the framework of a quasistatic tunneling model.     

Directional emission of multiply charged ions during dissociative ionization in asymmetric two-color laser fields

Intense, asymmetric 1ω+2ω laser fields are used to affect the directional ejection of multiply charged ion fragments from a variety of molecules, including N2, O2, CO, HBr, and CO2. By tuning the relative phase, ?, between the two fields, we observe large forward-backward dissociation asymmetries. The largest asymmetries are obtained at the same values of ? for all species, suggesting a common dynamical mechanism. Following an independent phase calibration, the sign of the asymmetry appears to be opposite that expected from the standard enhanced ionization model.     

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.     

Hexagonal patterns in multistep optical parametric processes

The existence and competition of a novel class of hexagonal patterns in a nonlinear optical system are reported. These states are found in a mean-field model of a doubly resonant frequency divide-by-3 optical parametric oscillator (3omega?2omega+omega) in which the multistep parametric process, 2omega=omega+omega , is weakly phase matched. A generalized Swift-Hohenberg equation and a set of amplitude equations are derived to describe the coexistence of hexagonal patterns formed by the superposition of either three or six phase-locked tilted waves.     

Coulomb exploded directional double ionization of N_2O molecules in multicycle femtosecond laser pulses

We experimentally investigate Coulomb exploded directional double ionization of N_2O molecules in elliptically polarized femtosecond laser pulses.The denitrogenation and deoxygenation channels are accessed via various pathways.It leads to distinct asymmetries in directional breaking of the doubly ionized N_2O molecules versus the instantaneous laser field vector, which is revealed by tracing the sum-momentum spectra of the ionic fragments as a recoil of the ejected electrons.Our results demonstrate that the accessibility of the Coulomb exploded double ionization channels of N_2O molecules are ruled by the detailed potential energy curves, and the directional emission of the fragments are governed by the joint effects of the electron localization-assisted enhanced ionization of the stretched molecules and the profiles of the molecular orbitals.     

KTiOPO4晶体的太赫兹光学声子振荡特性研究

采用超快半导体光电导开关的宽带太赫兹时域频谱系统,研究了 KTiOPO4 晶体在0.5～2.0THz波段的光学声子振荡特性;在晶体z轴平行于THz波电场振动方向时发现了明显的吸收峰.利用晶体中晶格振动模式（光学声子）对光谱的选择性吸收特性和多洛仑兹振子伪谐振介电模型,很好地拟合了KTP晶体的复介电常量曲线,得到了对应晶格弱振动的光学声子的频谱参量值.研究结果表明,位于ω1 /2π=1.76 THz的吸收峰是KTP晶体中沿z轴排列的K+相对于PO4和TiO6晶格振动造成的光学外振动模.同时也说明THz波对于晶格弱振动非常敏感,对于微弱的光学声子吸收峰的频谱分析更加精准.     

Phase-controlled absorption-gain properties and optical switching in nanodiamond nitrogen-vacancy center

We study phase-controlled absorption-gain and dynamic switching behaviors in a nanodiamond nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center. The NV center is driven coherently by a weak probe laser field, a control laser field and a microwave field. To describe the transient behavior of the system, we go beyond the steady-state approximation and simultaneously solve the coupled Bloch–Maxwell equations for the NV center and the probe field on numerical grids as functions of space and time. The results show that the continuous-wave input weak probe field can be switched on and off when the relative phase of the applied field is externally varied periodically in time. The proposed scheme may have applications in the design of optical switching and optical gain devices.     

Carrier-envelope phase-controlled quantum interference in optical poling

We demonstrate the efficiency of the optical poling process that depends on the CE phase-controlled quantum interference. For the experiment we employed our noncollinear optical parametric amplifier system for the self-stabilization of the CE phase, with the f-to-2f spectral interferometry system to control the CE phase.     

Enhanced four-wave mixing in a hollow-core photonic-crystal fiber

Hollow-core photonic-crystal fibers are shown to substantially enhance four-wave mixing (FWM) of laser pulses in a gas filling the fiber core. Picosecond pulses of Nd:YAG fundamental radiation and its second harmonic are used to generate a signal at the frequency of the third harmonic by the FWM process 3omega = 2omega + 2omega - omega. The efficiency achieved for this process in a 9-cm-long, 13-microm-hollow-core-diameter photonic-crystal fiber, designed to simultaneously transmit a two-color pump and the FWM signal, is shown to be approximately 800 times higher than the maximum FWM efficiency attainable with the same laser pulses in the tight-focusing regime.     

Temporal structure of attosecond pulses from intense laser-atom interactions

We find that the high harmonics have a power-law spectrum I(omega) approximately omega(-3.3+/-0.25) in a wide frequency domain starting at the ionization potential I(p) and down to the plateau beginning. Our spectrotemporal analysis of the emitted radiation displays clear bowlike structures in the (t,omega) plane. These "bows" correspond to Corkum's reencounters of the freed electron with the atom. We find that the bows are not filled and thus cannot be due to any bremsstrahlung. Rather, it is a resonant process that we call stimulated recombination (SR). It occurs when an electron with momentum p reencounters the incompletely ionized atom, and interferes with itself still remaining in the ground state. The SR leads to a highly efficient resonant emission at Planck's over 2pi omega=p(2)/2m+I(p) in the form of attosecond pulses. The SR relies on a low level of ionization and strongly benefits from the use of few-cycle laser pulses.     

An electro-optical study of relaxation rates of off-centre ions in SrO

The rate of relaxation between off-centre sites of Ni²⁺ and Co²⁺ substitutional defects in SrO is determined from the response of the optical absorption to an electric field. This is achieved not by direct lifetime measurement but by an alternative and sensitive technique in which the optical signal is monitored exactly out of phase with a modulated electric-field. It is found that the temperature dependence of relaxation lifetimes in the range 70μs to 13ms for Ni²⁺ ions is consistent with a simple classical thermally-activated process, a result which is to be held in contrast with the situation for Co²⁺.     

具有高阶耦合色散系数三芯光纤耦合器非线性光开关特性的研究

利用两种方法研究了高速光脉冲在具有交叉相位调制的等边三角形排列结构的非线性三芯光纤耦合器中传输和开关特性.首先利用变分原理得到三纤芯中传输转移系数随距离变化的方程,然后利用分裂步长傅里叶方法求得了光脉冲的数值解.变分法和数值模拟的结果表明：当一阶模间色散系数较小时,光脉冲仍能在三芯之间周期性耦合传输,并且表现出良好的开关特性,但是随着一阶模间色散系数的增大,脉冲耦合传输的周期性和陡峭的开关特性都遭到破坏,光脉冲在传输中发生分裂;二阶耦合色散系数和初始啁啾都能使光脉冲传输时的耦合长度变短、光脉冲在三纤芯之间 关键词： 三芯光纤耦合器 模间色散系数 耦合长度 开关阈值功率     

Observation of B0-->omega K0, B+-->eta pi+, and B+-->eta K+ and study of related decays

We present measurements of branching fractions and charge asymmetries for seven B-meson decays with an eta, eta', or omega meson in the final state. The data sample corresponds to 89x10(6) BB pairs produced from e(+)e(-) annihilation at the Upsilon(4S) resonance. We measure the following branching fractions in units of 10(-6): B(B+-->eta pi(+))=5.3+/-1.0+/-0.3, B(B+-->eta K+)=3.4+/-0.8+/-0.2, B(B0-->eta K0)=2.9+/-1.0+/-0.2 (<5.2, 90% C.L.), B(B+-->eta(')pi(+))=2.7+/-1.2+/-0.3 (<4.5, 90% C.L.), B(B+-->omega pi(+))=5.5+/-0.9+/-0.5, B(B+-->omega K+)=4.8+/-0.8+/-0.4, and B(B0-->omega K0)=5.9(+1.6)(-1.3)+/-0.5. The charge asymmetries are A(ch)(B+-->eta pi(+))=-0.44+/-0.18+/-0.01, A(ch)(B+-->eta K+)=-0.52+/-0.24+/-0.01, A(ch)(B+-->omega pi(+))=0.03+/-0.16+/-0.01, and A(ch)(B+-->omega K+)=-0.09+/-0.17+/-0.01.     

Modulation of the shape of the photon echo pulse by a pulsed magnetic field: Zeeman splitting in LuLiF4:Er3+ and YLiF4:Er3+

A spectroscopy method has been proposed involving a change in the time shape of the echo signal in the presence of a perturbation, which splits the frequencies of the transitions of two or more ion subgroups of the echo-active ions. This method has been applied to optical systems in which the Zeeman effect is manifested. The ion transition frequencies of ions are switched by a weak pulsed magnetic field acting during the time of the radiation of the photon echo pulse. The modulation of the photon echo signal shape was observed in LuLiF₄:Er³⁺ and YLiF₄:Er³⁺. The time interval between the two nearest minima corresponds to the accumulated phase of the electric dipole moment ?? and makes it possible to determine the difference of the g factors of the ground and excited ⁴ F _9/2(I) states of the Er³⁺ ion in the LuLiF₄ the YLiF₄ matrices for the known amplitude of the pulsed magnetic field. It has been shown that the echo response of the system can be programmed by the weak magnetic field pulses.     

Controlled shaping of ultrafast electric field transients in the mid-infrared spectral range

We experimentally demonstrate amplitude and phase shaping of femtosecond mid-infrared pulses in a range centered about 14 mum . Single pulses with a tailored optical phase and phase-locked double pulses are generated by phase-matched difference-frequency mixing in a GaSe crystal of near-infrared pulses shaped with a liquid-crystal modulator. The electric field transients are directly measured by free-space electro-optic sampling, yielding pulse durations of 200-300 fs. Our data are in good agreement with a model that describes phase-matched optical rectification.     

Observation of X-ray spectra from nitrogen clusters irradiated with high-intensity ultrashort laser pulses

X-ray spectra from nitrogen clusters irradiated with ultrashort laser pulses are reported. The line spectra of H-like and He-like nitrogen ions have been observed by irradiation with 100 fs, 800 nm pulses at 7×10¹⁷ W/cm² irradiance. The generation of highly charged ions of N⁶⁺ and N⁷⁺ is explained by the optical field-induced ionization and the subsequent collisional ionizations in the clusters. The He-δline has anomalously high brightness compared to other He-like lines. It is ascribed to charge exchange, which preferentially populates the n=5 level of N⁵⁺. Received: 7 October 1999 / Published online: 23 February 2000