Nonlinear reflection of a femtosecond spectral supercontinuum

The spatio-temporal spectrum of optical radiation reflected from a nonlinear dielectric medium with nonresonant dispersion is obtained as a function of the parameters of the spatio-temporal spectrum of a paraxial light beam incident on the boundary of the medium at small angles. Nonlinear reflection of various types of femtosecond spectral supercontinua from the interface between air and fused silica is simulated. It is shown that the time duration and the transverse dimensions of a beam of multiple-frequency radiation generated during the reflection of a superposition of high-intensity fields of two few-cycle pulses with different central wavelengths may be smaller than those of incident ultrashort pulses.     

Interaction of short laser pulses with biological structures

Focusing of light pulses emitted by a Q-switched laser, which have a duration of some nanoseconds, into a medium leads to laser-induced breakdown. The shockwaves produced by this propagate through the medium and can interact with inhomogeneities situated within the medium and consequently cause destruction. Because of the increasing interest in these short light pulses in the medical field the interaction of the shockwaves with biological tissue has been investigated. The observed results indicate the influence of two physical quantities of the shockwave: the peak pressure and the duration.     

Formation of ultrashort pulses in the process of the propagation of tightly focused femtosecond light packets in a transparent condensed medium

The evolution of the space-time structure of tightly focused femtosecond light packets in a transparent condensed medium (fused silica) is analyzed by means of numerical simulation. The nonlinear self-action of light packets leads to the formation of ultrashort pulses (duration of about 10 fs) propagating in various directions. The spectral composition, time structure, and position of ultrashort pulses at the time axis depend on their propagation direction.     

Ultrashort pulse measurements using a nonlinear mirror

The use of nonlinear optical phenomena at the boundary of a nonlinear medium for measuring the duration and the pulse shape of ultrashort light pulses are considered. Two different schemes are discussed.     

聚焦光在单轴晶体中的感应磁化

运用矢量衍射理论,分析了高度聚焦的圆偏振激光脉冲在具有逆法拉第效应的单轴晶体中产生的感应磁化分布.详细研究了界面位置不同对磁化分布的影响,比较了小双折射效应的单轴晶体中的磁化分布与均匀介质中的磁化分布.计算结果发现:随着界面向透镜移动,磁化强度的最大值和磁化斑的最小值位置沿着光轴方向移动.在单轴晶体中的磁化强度大于在均匀介质中的磁化强度.但是,在单轴晶体中的磁化斑的大小比在均匀介质中的小.描述单轴晶体各向异性的光磁常量与各向同性的光磁常量的比值愈大,磁化强度愈大,磁化斑愈小.     

Collisions of unipolar subcycle pulses in a nonlinear resonantly absorbing medium

Collisions of unipolar subcycle pulses in a nonlinear resonant medium that coherently interact with it are studied theoretically. The dynamics of spatial polarization structures and population difference that the pulses induce in the medium are analyzed. A surprising feature is that the medium is capable of “remembering” the result of the interaction with the pulses and their collisions during times comparable to the polarization relaxation time. An analysis of the dynamics of light-induced structures makes it possible to judge the parameters of subcycle pulses at the times longer than the pulse duration, which, in the future, can be useful in their detection.     

Light bullets in a Bragg medium containing metallic carbon nanotubes

Propagation of two- and three-dimensional ultimately short optical pulses (light bullets) in a medium exhibiting modulated refractive index and containing carbon nanotubes with a metallic type of conductivity is investigated theoretically. The dynamics of such pulses is demonstrated as a function of Bragg medium parameters. It is confirmed that the pulses are influenced by the state of the medium.     

Invariants of counterinteraction of femtosecond light pulses

In this paper, we obtain invariants of counterinteraction of femtosecond light pulses in a nonlinear medium. In the process of interaction, the harmonic amplitude at a frequency determined by the dispersion of nonlinear response of the medium oscillates along the propagation path with spatial frequency that is also determined by nonlinearity dispersion. The result obtained must be allowed for, in particular, during the computer modeling of interaction between counterpropagating light pulses. M. I. Lomonosov State University, Moscow, Russia. Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, radiofizika, Vol. 42, No. 5, pp. 475–478, May 1999.     

Slow light in resonant photonic crystals with a complex unit cell

Features of the propagation and slowing down of short light pulses (duration of ~0.1–2 ps) in one-dimensional resonant photonic crystals with various types of unit cells containing several quantum wells are discussed. It is established that the use of structures with a complex unit cell makes it possible to reduce the group velocity of exciton-polaritons along with the conservation of the width of the transparency window. The calculations show the possibility of the slowing down of a light pulse by a factor of 50 as compared to a pulse propagating in vacuum. The predicted delay time of the pulse is 2 ps at a damping of only 3–5 times.     

Programmable shaping of a subterawatt, femtosecond laser pulse by modulating the spectral phase of the preamplified pulse

Shaping the temporal profile of subterawatt optical pulses with a femtosecond duration is demonstrated with the help of a programmable pulse shaper, which is based on a liquid–crystal spatial light modulator. For safe operation, we place the pulse shaper between regenerative and multipass amplifiers. We generate double pulses, whose respective component pulses have 0.27-TW peak power and 74-fs duration. The possibility of variously-shaped multiterawatt pulses is also discussed.     

Soliton formation in the propagation of phase-modulated femtosecond pulses through an optical fiber with a cubic nonlinearity

A way of soliton self-formation upon propagation of femtosecond light pulses through an optical fiber with a cubic nonlinearity is described with allowance for the dispersion of the nonlinear response of the medium. For soliton formation to occur, a low-frequency phase modulation of the initial pulse is necessary. Several solitons formed in this way differ in both maximal intensities and group velocities. The duration of an individual soliton may be several (up to ten) times smaller than the initial duration of the input pulse.     

Systematic study of highly efficient white light generation in transparent materials using intense femtosecond laser pulses

We report the results of a systematic study of white light generation in different high band-gap optical media (BaF₂, acrylic, water and BK-7 glass) using ultrashort (45 fs) laser pulses. We have investigated the influence of different parameters, such as focal position of the incident laser light within the medium, the polarization state of the incident laser radiation and the pulse duration of the incident laser beam on the white light generation. Our results indicate that for intense, ultrashort pulses, the position of physical focus inside the media is crucial in the generation, with high efficiency, of white light spectra over the wavelength range 400–1100 nm. Linearly polarized incident laser light generates white light with higher intensity in the blue region than circularly polarized light. Ultrashort (45 fs) pulses generate a flatter spectrum with higher white light conversion efficiency than longer (300 fs) pulses of the same laser power. We believe that a flat response over a wide range of wavelengths in the continuum may be efficiently compressed for generation of sub-10 fs pulses. PACS 52.38.Hb; 42.65.Jx; 42.65.Tg; 33.80.Wz; 52.35.Mw     

Formation and erasure of population difference gratings in the coherent interaction of a resonant medium with extremely short optical pulses

In the regime of coherent interaction of short optical pulses with a resonant medium, which is implemented with a pulse duration shorter than the relaxation times in the medium, the formation of population gratings can occur without overlapping the pulses therein. In this case, there are new possibilities for controlling optical pulses, which are especially pronounced for extremely short pulses. It is shown that, with the proper choice of the parameters of a sequence of extremely short optical pulses, not only the formation of population gratings, but also their erasure are possible. It is demonstrated that this effect can be used for the creation of an ultrahigh-speed optical deflector.     

Effect of Illumination of Organic Dielectrics by Radiation of an Active Medium

The effect of illumination of 16 organic dielectrics, including PMMA and polyethylene- and polyvinylchloride-based materials, on their electrical conductivity, permittivity, and tangent of the loss angle is examined. Light pulses of 20 ns duration, mainly with a wavelength of 510.6 nm, formed a large light spot which illuminates the entire sample for 3–5 s so that the light pulse power density at the sample surface reached 0.6–6.6 kW/cm². It has been found that illumination, as a rule, changes the electrical parameters of the dielectrics that relax with time to their initial or new equilibrium values. In the process of many-hour relaxation of some materials, their electrical conductivity reached a maximum. This is indicative of the fact that light radiation converts dielectrics into the electret state.     

Collisions of Single-Cycle and Subcycle Attosecond Light Pulses in a Nonlinear Resonant Medium

By numerically solving the system of Maxwell–Bloch equations, we have examined theoretically collisions of extremely short single-cycle and unipolar subcycle pulses in a nonlinear resonant medium under conditions that the light interacts coherently with the medium. The dynamics of the electric field of structures of light-induced polarization and inversion difference has been considered in the situation in which pulses are overlapped in the medium. We show that the states of the medium (to the right and to the left of the overlap region of the pulses) may differ. In particular, we show that polarization waves with different characteristics can exist in the regions of the medium that are located on opposite sides of the overlap region of the pulses. These waves travel in different directions and have different spatial frequencies.     

2D light bullets in a Bragg medium with a harmonically modulated refractive index and carbon nanotubes

The propagation of extremely short 2D pulses (light bullets) through a Bragg medium with a harmonically modulated refractive index and carbon nanotubes is studied theoretically. Propagation is found to be stable. It is shown that these pulses carry information about the Bragg grating.     

Coherent interaction of an electromagnetic field with a medium of two-level particles and with a superconducting current in a Josephson structure

The propagation of electromagnetic pulses in Josephson structures is investigated theoretically. An analogy with interaction of light pulses with a twolevel medium is traced. Under certain conditions the propagation of electromagnetic radiation in a two-level medium and in a Josephson structure is described by the same wave equation.Lebedev Physics Institute, Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Moscwow. Translated from Preprint No. 233 of the Lebedev Physics Institute, Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Moscow, 1938.     

A new stroboscope for schlieren and photoelastic visualization of ultrasound

Conventional stroboscopes, when used for visualizing the path of ultrasound in a transparent medium, suffer from many problems including too long a flash duration, jitter and inconsistency. To overcome these limitations a new stroboscope has been developed which is based on a light emitting diode driven with very short, very high current pulses.     

Self-action of Bessel wave packets in a system of coupled light guides and formation of light bullets

The self-action of two-dimensional and three-dimensional Bessel wave packets in a system of coupled light guides is considered using the discrete nonlinear Schrödinger equation. The features of the self-action of such wave fields are related to their initial strong spatial inhomogeneity. The numerical simulation shows that for the field amplitude exceeding a critical value, the development of an instability typical of a medium with the cubic nonlinearity is observed. Various regimes are studied: the self-channeling of a wave beam in one light guide at powers not strongly exceeding a critical value, the formation of the “kaleidoscopic” picture of a wave packet during the propagation of higher-power radiation along a stratified medium, the formation of light bullets during competition between self-focusing and modulation instabilities in the case of three-dimensional wave packets, etc. In the problem of laser pulse shortening, the situation is considered when the wave-field stratification in the transverse direction dominates. This process is accompanied by the self-compression of laser pulses in well enough separated light guides. The efficiency of conversion of the initial Bessel field distribution to two flying parallel light bullets is about 50%.     

Numerical modeling of generation of few-cycle pulses in a mode-locked laser

We have performed numerical simulation of a laser generating few-cycle pulses in the regime of coherent mode locking. It is shown that such a laser can support generation of pulses with a duration close to the reciprocal of the main laser transition frequency of the gain medium in a wide range of laser parameters.