Sub-20 fs visible pulses with 750 nJ energy from a 100 kHz noncollinear optical parametric amplifier

We demonstrate the operation of a 100 kHz noncollinear optical parametric amplifier that is pumped by just a few microjoules of 800 nm pulses with 50 fs duration. The device delivers sub-20 fs pulses tunable from 460 nm to beyond 1 microm and pulse energies up to 750 nJ when it is pumped with 7 microJ of energy. The design of the single-stage amplifier has been carefully optimized, and the design considerations are discussed.     

全光纤脉冲压缩器的理论及实验研究

对色散位移光纤＋普通单模光纤构成的全光纤脉冲压缩器进行了理论分析，分析了压 缩效果与光纤参数及输入脉冲参数的关系；对不同中心波长和脉宽的主动锁模光纤激光器的 输出脉冲进行了压缩实验，均得到了近变换限Sech的压缩脉冲，实验结果与理论分析一致. 关键词： 全光纤脉冲压缩器 压缩因子 基座能量 主动谐波锁模光纤 激光器     

Sub-100 femtosecond pulses from a SESAM modelocked thin disk laser

We present the first passively modelocked thin disk laser (TDL) with sub-100-fs pulse duration using the broadband sesquioxide gain material Yb:LuScO₃ and an optimized SEmiconductor Saturable Absorber Mirror (SESAM). In this proof-of-principle experiment, we obtained 5.1 W of average power at a repetition rate of 77.5 MHz and a pulse duration of 96 fs. We carefully explored and optimized the different parameters on the soliton pulse formation process for the generation of short pulses. In particular, SESAMs combining fast recovery time, high modulation depth and low nonsaturable losses proved crucial to achieve this result even though they are expected to only play a minor role in soliton modelocking. To our knowledge, these are the shortest pulses ever obtained with a modelocked TDL, reaching for the first time the sub-100-fs milestone. This result opens the door to sub-100-fs oscillators with substantially higher power levels in the near future.     

亚百飞秒高功率掺镱大模面积光子晶体光纤飞秒激光放大器的实验研究

实验研究了掺镱双包层保偏大模面积光子晶体光纤飞秒激光放大器. 获得了平均功率达16W的飞秒激光放大输出,在50MHz重复频率下,对应的单脉冲能量达到320nJ. 增益光纤长3.5m,由于自相位调制效应,种子光脉冲光谱在放大过程中同时展宽,从而支持更窄的脉冲宽度. 经过光栅后,脉冲宽度压缩到了85fs. 系统中的振荡器和放大器基于同一种具有偏振结构的大模面积光子晶体光纤,具有很好的环境稳定性和进一步集成的可能. 关键词： 光子晶体光纤 大模场面积光纤 飞秒激光 光纤放大器     

Excitation and ionization of positronium by 50–100 fs laser pulses

The interaction between Ps and a strong laser pulse of short duration is studied. Substantial population is deposited in excited states under few photon excitation. The possible usefulness as a source of excited Ps to spectroscopy and the formation of antihydrogen is discussed. Finally, photoelectron energy spectra are calculated. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Sub-2 fs pulses generated by self-channeling in the deep ultraviolet

The generation of sub-2 fs light pulses in the UV is numerically demonstrated, using frequency conversion in filamentation regime. Few-cycle pulses emitted at 266 nm keep their temporal shape over several tens of centimeters. Self-compression results from the interplay between Kerr self-focusing and a low-density plasma, which continuously defocuses the pulse over extended propagation ranges.     

用腔倒空Nd：YAG激光器对fs超短脉冲的同步放大

实现了用腔倒空Nd:YGA激光器对fs超短脉冲放大器的同步泵浦。由碰撞锁模环形染料激光器产生的80fs脉冲经二级染料放大后,实现放大倍数6.2×10~4,输出超短脉冲峰值功率～2×10~7W。     

Extending optical fs metrology to XUV attosecond pulses

We report on the progress towards a 2nd-order autocorrelation measurement of a coherent superposition of the 7th to the 15th harmonic of the fundamental frequency of the Ti : Sapphire laser. The two-photon ionization of He atoms was investigated and found to be an appropriate non-linear detector. In addition, the technique of volume autocorrelation based on a split mirror wavefront divider was analysed and shown to exhibit adequate degree of modulation. Moreover, the approach presented opens up the path to XUV-pump XUV-probe type of temporal studies of ultrafast processes with a sub-fs temporal resolution. PACS 42.60.By; 42.65.Re; 42.65.Ky     

输出13.5fs激光脉冲的非共线式光参量放大器

利用BBO晶体在400nm的抽运光与信号光夹角为37°时,可同时在可见光范围内很宽的光谱范围里实现相位匹配的特点,实现了在可见光范围内具有极宽输出光谱宽度的飞秒光学参量放大器(OPA)的稳定运转,其输出脉冲能量大于15μJ,转换效率超过15%.并且在仅采用啁啾镜作为脉冲压缩器的情况下,获得了输出脉冲宽度为135fs的极窄光脉冲,其脉冲宽度压缩比高达22倍 关键词： 非共线相位匹配 光学参量放大 啁啾镜     

Compression of high-energy laser pulses below 5 fs

High-energy 20-fs pulses generated by a Ti:sapphire laser system were spectrally broadened to more than 250 nm by self-phase modulation in a hollow fiber filled with noble gases and subsequently compressed in a broadband high-throughput dispersive system. Pulses as short as 4.5 fs with energy up to 20-microJ were obtained with krypton, while pulses as short as 5 fs with energy up to 70 microJ were obtained with argon. These pulses are, to our knowledge, the shortest generated to date at multigigawatt peak powers.     

Sub-200 fs microjoule pulses from a monolithic linear fiber CPA system

An all-fiber-integrated linear chirped-pulse amplifier system generating microjoule pulse energies is reported. It is seeded by an all-fiber dissipative-soliton laser and incorporates a newly developed fiber stretcher, whose dispersive properties match that of the grating compressor. Pulse durations of 189 fs with energies of 2.2 μJ were achieved after compression. The average power was 9.8 W at the repetition rate of 4.5 MHz.     

Compression of 2 mJ kilohertz laser pulses to 17.5 fs by pairing double-prism compressor: analysis and performance

A general expression of dispersion for pairing double-prism compressor with arbitrary apex angle is presented and a limitation to generate negative group-delay dispersion (GDD) for broadband spectrum is obtained. By use of this compressor with spectral shaping filters and chirped mirrors, 2 mJ, 17.5 fs pulses from a compact 10-pass kilohertz Ti:sapphire amplifier system are generated.     

Hollow-fiber compression of visible, 200 fs laser pulses to 40 fs pulse duration

We demonstrate the use of a very simple, compact, and versatile method, based on the hollow-fiber compression technique, to shorten the temporal length of visible laser pulses of 100-300 fs to pulse durations shorter than approximately 50 fs. In particular, 200 fs, frequency-doubled, Nd:glass laser pulses (527 nm) were spectrally broadened to final bandwidths as large as 25 nm by nonlinear propagation through an Ar-filled hollow fiber. A compact, dispersive, prism-pair compressor was then used to produce as short as 40 fs, 150 microJ pulses. A very satisfactory agreement between numerical simulations and measurements is found.     

Compact laser source for high-power white-light and widely tunable sub 65 fs laser pulses

We demonstrate an Yb:KGW femtosecond solitary mode-locked laser oscillator, which is used as a pump source for tapered fibers to generate white-light laser pulses with an average output power of up to 2.5 W and a spectral bandwidth of over 1000 nm. By spectrally filtering these pulses and subsequent compression of the filtered pulses with a prism sequence, we are able to generate ultrashort laser pulses with durations between 26 and 65 fs that are tunable from 600 to 1450 nm and with tens to several hundreds of milliwatts of average power.     

Ultrafast nonlinear optical properties of dye-doped PMMA discs irradiated by 40 fs laser pulses

The two-photon absorption (TPA) characteristics of PMMA discs doped with three different dyes were studied using an fs-pulsed Ti-Sapphire laser as the pump source, and employing the open-aperture Z-scan technique. TPA cross-sections obtained for PMMA doped with the dyes PM597, DCM and rhodamine 6G–rhodamine B (co-doped) were found to be equal to 24.7, 33.3 and 32.3 GM, respectively (1 GM=10^?50 cm⁴ s phot^?1 mol^?1). Furthermore, two-photon fluorescence was measured for the samples containing DCM and rhodamine 6G–rhodamine B (co-doped). Compared to the one-photon fluorescence spectrum, the peaks in the two-photon fluorescence spectrum were red shifted and the extent of red shift increased with increasing doping concentration. We have also observed that the red shift in the two-photon fluorescence peak of the samples in the solid form is much larger than that in the solution state. This phenomenon could be explained by a twisted intra-molecular charge transfer model.     

光孤子脉冲在光纤放大器中的传播

本文建立了包括增益色散,受激喇曼散射,双光子吸收效应的理论模型,讨论了光孤子脉冲在光纤放大器中的传播.数值计算结果表明:在反常色散范围内,光孤子的放大是不稳定的.增益色散导致光脉冲对称分裂,而受激喇曼散射则导致不对称的分裂.在增益色散和受激喇曼散射的共同作用下可获得新的时域和频域特征.有限带宽的放大能抑制受激喇曼散射引起的自频移.本文对有啁啾的光孤子脉冲的放大也进行了分析.     

Bound soliton pulses in passively mode-locked fiber laser

A passively mode-locked soliton fiber ring laser was successfully demonstrated, and bound soliton pulses with an FWHM pulsewidth of 326 fs and fixed separation of 938 fs were first observed. The number of bound soliton pairs in the cavity can be controlled under lower pump power. The transmission effects were investigated by injecting bound soliton pulses into a single mode fiber.     

Diode-pumped mode-locked Yb:YCOB laser generating 35 fs pulses

Direct sub-50-fs pulse generation is demonstrated with a mode-locked Yb:YCa4O(BO3)3 laser. With external compression, pulses as short as 35 fs are generated at 1055 nm. The oscillator operating at a repetition rate of 95 MHz is pumped by a two-section distributed Bragg reflector tapered diode laser and mode locked by a semiconductor saturable absorber mirror. The onset of self-Raman-conversion for pulse spectral bandwidths exceeding 40 nm (FWHM) is observed.     

Generation of fs laser pulses from a ps pulse-pumped optical parametric amplifier with a beat-wave seed signal

We describe a method of ultrashort-pulse and ultrafast-pulse-train generation through optical parametric amplification of a laser beat wave. Numerical simulation shows that 250-fs laser pulses at 1.55 μm are generated from a beat-wave seeded optical parametric amplifier pumped by a 30-ps laser at 1064 nm. The pulse compression is attributable to sideband generation and parametric amplification under group velocity mismatch. Our experimental result confirms efficient generation of comb-like sidebands for the mixing waves from such an optical parametric amplifier.