Beam delivery of femtosecond laser radiation by diffractive optical elements

Received: 4 February 1998/Accepted: 22 April 1998     

Chromatic-distortion compensation in splitting and focusing of femtosecond pulses by use of a pair of diffractive optical elements

We propose a simple optical system to compensate for chromatic distortion that occurs during fan-out of femtosecond pulses by diffractive optics. The proposed system comprises a pair of diffractive elements, one for splitting an incoming pulse and the other for focusing the split pulses. With an appropriate separation between the elements, chromatic distortion resulting from the spectral bandwidth of a femtosecond pulse is removed, and an array of focused pulses with the same dimensions can be obtained. The theory has been verified through optical and processing experiments with 100-fs, 800-nm pulses.     

Ablation of microstructures applying diffractive elements and UV femtosecond laser pulses

A new method for simple and economic fabrication of diffractive optical elements (DOEs) with three and four phase levels, by UV nanosecond (ns) laser ablation is presented. The technique is based on the combination of two sequentially generated complementary 2-level phase elements. During the fabrication, complete ablative removal of a highly absorbing silicon suboxide layer by pixelated backside illumination ensures the necessary high precision and optical quality. Full functionality of the new DOEs is demonstrated by fabricating micro-structures using UV femtosecond pulses.     

Wavelength tuning of femtosecond pulses generated in nonlinear crystals by using diffractive lenses

We demonstrate that diffractive lenses (DLs) can be used as a simple method to tune the central wavelength of femtosecond pulses generated from second-order nonlinear optical processes in birefringent crystals. The wavelength tunability is achieved by changing the relative distance between the nonlinear crystal and the DL, which acts in a focusing configuration. Besides the many practical applications of the so-generated pulses, the proposed method might be extended to other wavelength ranges by demonstrated similar effects on other nonlinear processes, such as high-order harmonic generation.     

Optimized amplification of femtosecond optical pulses by dispersion management for octave-spanning optical frequency comb generation

We report a method for optimizing the amplification of femtosecond optical pulses by using dispersion management. The amount of dispersion provided to the seed optical pulse of an erbium-doped fiber (EBF) has an optimal region that enhances the output power of an amplifier. The power enhancement is accompanied by spectral broadening, which originates from adiabatic narrowing in the erbium-doped fiber. The amplified optical pulses can be used to generate an octave-spanning optical frequency comb (OFC) by employing a highly nonlinear fiber (HNLF).     

Polarization-sensitive diffractive optical elements fabricated in BR films with femtosecond laser

Multi-photon product (F₅₄₀-state) of bacteriorhodopsin (BR) polymeric films excited by femtosecond laser shows permanently photoinduced birefringence and dichroism. Based on this property, polarization-sensitive diffractive optical elements (PDOEs), e.g., gratings, two-dimensional optical lattice, Bessel zone plate, were firstly fabricated and investigated in BR films by femtosecond laser multi-beam interference with rotationally symmetric pyramid lenses. These fabricated PDOEs are completely stable at room temperature. The dependence of diffraction efficiency on the incident polarization state was measured. The micro-structures of PDOEs were observed under polarization microscope, and the selective readout diffraction patterns from the polarization-multiplexed PDOEs were demonstrated.     

Measurement of ultraviolet femtosecond pulses using the optical kerr effect

We demonstrate the optical Kerr shutter technique as a simple and powerful tool for the measurement of femtosecond pulses in the ultraviolet as well as in the visible spectral region. The method provides the third-order intensity correlation function which gives information about pulse asymmetry and pulse structures.     

Techniques for formation of the surface profile of diffractive optical elements

We give a review of the findings of an investigation into a photolithographical method of fabricating diffractive optical elements (DOEs), based on the use of only one photomask with two transmittance gradations. The binarization of the continuous transmission function of the diffractive element is conducted using a technology of half-toning of continuous-tone images and the exposure of the light-sensitive medium is performed using an incoherent spatial filtration in combination with a conventional photolithographical process. We analyze how the DOE diffractive efficiency depends on photomask parameters, binarization methods and fabrication errors. Comparison of the characteristics of the method proposed with the well-known multilevel method is made. Peculiarities of fabricating DOEs with continuous phase profile resulting from the projection, contact, and X-ray lithography are discussed. The results of experimental research are given. A possibility of fabricating DOEs with an 80% diffractive efficiency using only one photomask is demonstrated.     

Spatiotemporal dynamics of femtosecond pulses in nonlinear optical waveguides with material dispersion

The effect of the second-order dispersion on the spatiotemporal dynamics of ultrashort pulses in nonlinear waveguides with infinite parabolic and stepped profiles of the refractive index is studied. It is shown that the leakage of radiation from the core to the cladding of step-index waveguides prevents the formation of a steady spatiotemporal distribution of the field. The possibility of compressing light pulses in a dielectric waveguide with a positive group-velocity dispersion is discussed.     

High-dynamic-range pulse-front steepening of amplified femtosecond pulses by third-order dispersion

Received: 9 June 1998/Revised version: 4 November 1998     

Three-dimensional optical storage in fused silica using modulated femtosecond pulses

Three-dimensional bitwise optical recording with a density of 500 Gb/cm3 in fused silica using a Ti:sapphire femtosecond laser modulated by binary digits is demonstrated. Laser pulses modulation is realized by modulating two circuits of trigger pulses signal which are used to control laser pulses trapping and switching out from cavity, respectively. Bits are optically readout in both a parallel reading (phase-contrast) and a serial reading (confocal-type) methods. The method for modulating laser pulses can also be used in all of pulsed laser systems which operate in cavity-dumping configuration.     

Amplitude and phase measurement of mid-infrared femtosecond pulses by using cross-correlation frequency-resolved optical gating

We describe a cross-correlation-based frequency-resolved optical gating (XFROG) technique for simultaneously measuring the amplitude and phase of two ultrashort pulses that have different wavelengths but are derived from a common mode-locked oscillator. A measurement is presented in which 4.0-mum mid-IR pulses from a synchronously pumped femtosecond optical parametric oscillator (OPO) are characterized by mixing with the 770-nm OPO pump pulses. Details of the pulse-retrieval algorithm are included, together with examples of pulse data retrieved from the experimentally measured XFROG trace.     

利用二维杨-顾算法设计非对称结构衍射光学元件

杨 顾算法是一种设计衍射光学元件的相位恢复方法。在大多数文献中,主要用它来设计一维衍射光学元件和具有旋转对称结构的二维衍射光学元件,故在此称之为一维杨 顾算法。二维杨 顾算法可用来设计任意结构的二维衍射光学元件。在基于非幺正变换光学系统中,用振幅 相位恢复理论建立了二维杨 顾算法的数学模型,给出了迭代算法。利用自编的仿真程序包设计了一个具有非对称结构的衍射相位元件。     

Analysis of thresholds of optical damage to the potassium and sodium chloride surface by femtosecond laser pulses

Comparative analysis of optical damage thresholds of potassium and sodium chloride surface by pulses with durations of 80 and 40 fs has been carried out. The critical radiation power in a pulse at the optical damage threshold for the ion crystals studied has been determined. An estimate of the optical damage thresholds of the sodium chloride surface by laser pulses with a duration of 20 fs is presented.     

Multilevel phase-type diffractive lenses in silica glass induced by filamentation of femtosecond laser pulses

Multilevel phase-type diffractive lenses were fabricated by translating a filament of a femtosecond laser pulse into three-dimensional space inside synthesized silica. The profile of the lenses was designed by use of a multi-level approximation to a kinoform lens. Two-level diffractive lenses with multiple layers along the optical axis provided a maximum efficiency of 37.6% at a wavelength of 632.8 nm. A four-level diffractive lens provided a maximum efficiency of 56.9%. The lenses fabricated with filamentation were free from birefringence.     

In-bulk and surface structuring of sapphire by femtosecond pulses

The actual space-time dependent intensity distribution of a tightly focused (numerical aperture NA = 1.35) Gaussian femtosecond pulse is modeled inside dielectric material. Such focusing is typically used for recording with sub-wavelength resolution inside dielectrics. The multi-pulse structuring inside the bulk and on the surface of sapphire are demonstrated. Formation of nano-cracks and nano-crystals is revealed inside the crystalline sapphire. Ripple formation on the surface is discussed in terms of the efficacy map calculated by theory given in ref. [J.E. Sipe, J.F. Young, J.S. Preston, H.M. van Driel, Laser-induced periodic surface structure. I. Theory, Phys. Rev. B 27 (2) (1983) 1141-1154.].     

Semiconductor laser diode to single-mode fiber coupling using diffractive optical elements

An integrated mode converter consisting of two diffractive optical elements (DOEs) and a Silicon slab is presented for low-loss coupling between a semiconductor laser diode (LD) and a single-mode fiber (SMF). The phase structures of the DOEs are designed using iterative phase retrieval algorithm. We introduce a new far-field amplitude constraint into the iteration to provide very high mode conversion quality. Compared with previously published mode converters, the scheme is more universal because it’s applicable for any semiconductor LD. In simulation, coupling losses lower than 0.02 dB are predicted for all the discussed LDs with aspect ratios of the elliptical fields from 1 to 9. The requirements on axial displacement and rotation angle have been removed. The tolerance for 1-dB loss increment for lateral misalignment is 0.9 μm. And the coupling loss is insensitive to tilt angle.     

Precision measurement with visual feedback using binary phase diffractive optical elements

A novel method for obtaining precision measurements by using two binary diffractive optical elements is presented. The system provides visual feedback of the measurement without the use of electronics.