氟化氪短脉冲激光的放大和组束研究

为充分利用氟化氪(KrF)准分子激光放大器的长泵浦时间,探索提高激光输出效率的方法,开展紫外超短脉冲在KrF准分子激光器中多脉冲放大和组束的实验研究。采用双脉冲放大方案研究激光脉冲时间间隔对输出能量的影响,确定延时时间,提高脉冲总能量并有效抑制自发辐射(ASE)。实现了单次放大4个紫外超短脉冲,获得了近4倍于单脉冲放大的输出能量。并探索紫外超短激光脉冲的组束技术,成功应用光学角多路的方法将两个亚皮秒的紫外激光脉冲进行精确组束。     

Pulse-resolved measurement of quadrature phase amplitudes of squeezed pulse trains at a repetition rate of 76 MHz

We report pulsed homodyne detection of squeezed pulses at a repetition rate of 76 MHz. Measurement of individual pulses, which were interrogated by the correlation coefficient between adjacent pulses, was realized. A homodyne detector was constructed using a low-noise, high-speed operational amplifier; it had a usable bandwidth of 250 MHz. We observed 2.3 dB of squeezing in both the time and frequency domains.     

High-resolution Raman spectra with femtosecond pulses: an example of combined time- and frequency-domain spectroscopy

Frequency-domain spectroscopy requires long pulses, whereas time-domain spectroscopy requires short pulses. This Letter demonstrates both theoretically and experimentally that simultaneous detection in frequency and time generates well-resolved spectra using intermediate-length pulses. In the case of coherent Raman spectroscopy, typical femtosecond pulses lie between the time and frequency domains. To demonstrate this method, a high-resolution Raman spectrum of nitrobenzene is obtained from 60 fs pulses. Phase control, pulse shaping, or pulses of widely differing duration are not required.     

载波相位对超短脉冲时间重心的影响

以Gauss、Hyperbolic Secant、Lorentz三种脉冲为例,利用理论推导和数值模拟的方法研究了载波相位对超短脉冲时间重心的影响,并给出了三种脉冲的时间重心与载波相位的解析表达式和数值模拟的图形.研究结果表明:当脉冲包络的宽度短于一个光学振荡周期时,载波相位对超短脉冲的时间重心开始有较显著的影响.     

Combination of high-intensity femtosecond laser pulses for generation of time-dependent polarization pulses and ionization of atomic gas

Time-dependent polarization pulses are generated by combining two perpendicularly polarized, high-intensity laser pulses. The time evolution of the polarization state of the combined laser pulse is measured by the POLLIWOG technique. We observed changes in the polarization state while varying the relative delay. In order to investigate the effect of pulse combination on the ionization of atoms, the electron signals and the ion signals are measured by irradiating combinations of two perpendicularly polarized pulses or two parallel polarized pulses. With the two parallel polarized pulses, high-order fringe-resolved autocorrelations are obtained by measuring the time-integrated ion signals as a function of the time delay. When two perpendicularly polarized pulses are combined, the fringe period of the time-integrated electron signal as a function of the time delay is different from that of the time-integrated ion signal. This is due to the fact that the electron signal depends on the direction of the field vibration and the number of generated electrons. We also measured the electron energy distributions at different relative delays and confirmed that these depend on the polarization state of generated pulses.     

Tuning of laser pulse shapes in grating-based compressors for optimal electron acceleration in plasmas

The temporal shape (rise time, fall time, skewness) of 50-200-fs Ti:sapphire laser pulses has been controlled by appropriate adjustment of a grating-pair compressor. It was found that the skewness of the laser pulse envelope is particularly sensitive to the third-order component of the spectral phase. Introducing such a third-order phase offset by detuning the grating pair relative to the optimum pulse compression settings allowed the generation of skewed pulses. As an example of an application, these skewed pulses were used to optimize a laser-plasma electron accelerator.     

Amplification of kW peak power femtosecond pulses in single quantum well InGaAs tapered amplifiers

The amplification of ps and fs pulses with peak powers of up to 4.5 kW has been investigated in a single quantum well InGaAs tapered amplifier. The pulses with durations of 100 fs or 2 ps were generated by a modelocked titanium-sapphire laser. The amplified pulses indicate strong gain saturation and carrier generation due to photon absorption in the laser active region which causes a temporal broadening of the amplified pulses as well as modifications of the optical spectrum. The gain recovery time was measured by a pump-probe experiment. The experimental results are analyzed with respect to the sub-ps gain dynamics which is described by a relaxation time approximation.     

1.3μmDFB半导体激光超短脉冲的产生及其压缩

本文首次报道１．３μｍ单模超短脉冲产生及压缩实验。通过梳状波电脉冲直接调制ＤＣＰＢＨ－ＤＦＢ半导体激光器，获得２２ｐｓ单模光滑脉冲；然后利用Ｇ－Ｔ干涉仪压缩得到近变换极限超短脉冲。脉宽为９．３ｐｓ，峰值功率超过２００ｍＷ，重复频率１ＧＨｚ，时间带宽乘积为０．３９，脉冲压缩比为２．４。最后对实验结果进行了讨论。     

Generation of subpicosecond electrical pulses by optical rectification

We describe the generation of subpicosecond electrical pulses by optical rectification of ultrashort optical pulses. The electrical pulses are generated by the second-order nonlinear response of a LiTaO(3) crystal bonded to a coplanar transmission line. A bipolar temporal waveform with a width of 875 fs was measured after a propagation distance of 175mum . This pulse width was limited by the response time of the photoconductive sampler. We observed both broadening and amplitude reduction in the temporal waveform owing to propagation.     

Modulation of a saturable absorber Q-switched laser by a train of picosecond pulses

In this experiment, the transmission of the saturable absorber of a mode-locked laser is modulated optically by a train of ultra-short pulses emitted by another laser, with some power reflected inside the cavity to initiate the emission. The laser threshold is only attained during the opening time of the modulator, and stimulated emission is prevented at any other time. Once pulses are formed, the photon density is sufficiently high for auto-modulating the dye.Q-switching of the laser is only realised if the difference between the time of a round-trip in the cavity and the period of modulation is less than ±17 psec. The emission is a series of pulses of 5.2 nsec period lasting for 60 nsec. The total energy in all pulses is 60 mJ for a neodymium doped glass rod of 8 mm diameter.We describe a method for measuring the noise of the series of pulses using a saturated photo-cell. We find a ratio of 100 between the energy of one pulse and the energy emitted between two pulses.     

Comment on "Time reversal of ultrafast waveforms by wave mixing of spectrally decomposed waves"

In a recent Letter [Opt. Lett. 25, 132 (2000)] the properties of two different techniques for time reversal of ultrafast optical waveforms were compared. Although both techniques, spectral phase conjugation and spectral inversion, perform the same function for real pulses, for pulses with complex envelope functions it was asserted that only spectral inversion gives true time reversal. I argue here for a different interpretation.     

Optimum regime of passive mode locking in the yttrium aluminate laser

In order to obtain pulses of maximum energy and minimum time, the passive mode-locking regime was optimized for the yttrium aluminate-neodymium laser on the basis of a range of polymethine dyes with different nonlinear parameters (bleaching intensity and relaxation time). Ultrashort pulses with a minimum time of 5 ps and power 0.4 GW were generated. The radiant strength of yttrium aluminate was estimated and found to be 1.3 GWcm^–2 for ultrashort pulses (USP). Dyes were identified which provided for the USP minimum time and maximum energy. A pulse time of 5 ps was found to be limiting for the given radiant strength of the crystal.     

利用受激布里渊散射在光纤中实现光存储

利用有限差分法在慢变包络近似下求解了耦合波方程组,并从理论上实现了短光脉冲的存储。研究了数据脉冲的读出效率随声子寿命、布里渊增益系数、数据脉冲强度和控制脉冲强度的变化规律。结果显示:在长声子寿命的条件下,可以获得高的读出效率和长的存储时间,而布里渊增益系数和数据脉冲强度对读出效率没有影响;增大布里渊增益系数可以降低所需控制脉冲的强度。这种方法对短脉冲可以实现有效存储,而对长脉冲不能实现存储。     

Modulation effect produced by adjacent AC voltage on the characteristics of negative corona current pulses in a wire-cylinder electrode configuration

In this paper, a wire-cylinder electrode system was designed to study the negative DC corona pulses due to the influence of AC voltage applied to an adjacent conductor. The corona onset voltage and distribution pattern and the parameters of the corona current pulses such as the rise time, pulse duration and the average pulse amplitude are systematically analyzed. The AC voltage is found to have an interesting modulation effect on the time interval of the current pulses. At last, based on a simplified ion cloud model, a full explanation is given to reveal the mechanism behind the influence of the AC voltage on negative DC corona.     

Dynamic Alignment of D2 Enhanced by Two Few-cycle Pulses

利用数值方法求解D2分子刚性转子模型在超短飞秒激光脉冲作用下的薛定谔方程,计算了双原子分子D2在两束固定强度的飞秒激光脉冲作用下,延迟时间对于分子取向的影响.结果表明,只要选取合适的延迟时间,就能很好改善分子取向;保持两束激光强度不变,通过调整两束脉冲的宽度,选择合适的延迟时间能够进一步有效提高D2分子的取向程度.     

Fat-water selective excitation in balanced steady-state free precession using short spatial-spectral RF pulses

Fat suppression is important but challenging in balanced steady-state free precession (bSSFP) acquisitions, for a number of clinical applications. In the present work, the practicality of performing fat-water selective excitations using spatial-spectral (SPSP) RF pulses in bSSFP sequence is examined. With careful pulse design, the overall duration of these SPSP pulses was kept short to minimize detrimental effects on TR, scan time and banding artifact content. Fat-water selective excitation using SPSP pulses was demonstrated in both phantom and human bSSFP imaging at 3T, and compared to results obtained using a two-point Dixon method. The sequence with SPSP pulses performed better than the two-point Dixon method, in terms of scan time and suppression performance. Overall, it is concluded here that SPSP RF pulses do represent a viable option for fat-suppressed bSSFP imaging.     

Characterization of sub-two-cycle pulses from a hollow-core fiber compressor in the spatiotemporal and spatiospectral domains

We have post-compressed 25 fs (Fourier limit) amplified pulses in an argon-filled hollow-core fiber. The output pulses were compressed using a pair of wedges and chirped mirrors down to 4.5 fs (Fourier limit of 4.1 fs), which corresponds to less than two optical cycles. We then performed the characterization of the pulses by combining the d-scan and the STARFISH techniques. The temporal (and spectral) measurement of the pulses is done with d-scan, which is used as the reference to extend the characterization to the spatiotemporal (and spatiospectral) amplitude and phase of the pulses by means of STARFISH. The post-compressed pulses at the output of the hollow-fiber had an energy of 150 μJ. The analysis of the pulses revealed larger spectral broadening and blue-shift, and shorter duration at the center of the beam. For the first time, we demonstrate the complete characterization of intense ultra-broadband pulses in the sub-two-cycle regime, which provides an improved insight into the properties (space–time and space–frequency) of the pulses and is highly relevant for their applications.     

Investigation of plumes produced by material ablation with two time-delayed femtosecond laser pulses

We experimentally investigated and herewith reported the results of laser ablation of copper and gold with two time-delayed femtosecond laser pulses at 800 nm in vacuum. The ablation plume dynamic was monitored by fast plume imaging and time- and space-resolved optical emission spectroscopy. Optical microscopy was used to follow the ablation depth as a function of the delay between the two laser pulses. Nanoparticles deposition on mica substrates was analysed by atomic force microscopy.We estimate roughly the plume's atomization degree - that is the mass fraction of atomized material over the total ablated mass - from the relative intensities of radiation emitted from atoms and nanoparticles. It is shown that the atomization degree depends critically on the time delay between both laser pulses and on the characteristic time of electron-lattice relaxation. The increase of the atomization degree is accompanied by the decrease of the ablation depth. Atomic force microscopy measurements confirm the partial atomization of nanoparticles, as the analyses of particle deposition on mica substrates show a large decrease of the number of nanoparticles for large delay between the two pulses.     

Microdischarges Near Metal–Insulator Interfaces

Some statistical features of microdischarges running near the metal-insulator interfaces have been discussed. The study has verified an exponential character of statistical distributions of the time intervals between microdischarge pulses, power-law distribution of voltage peaks of these pulses (height of pulses) and very weak correlation effects among pulses, i.e. weak time-height correlation, time autocorrelation and height autocorrelation. A statistical parameter of the power law distribution of the heights of microdischarge pulses proved to be sensitive to the voltage load of the insulating interface metal-insulator.     

Interference of dissociating wave packets in the I2 molecule driven by femtosecond laser pulses

The interference between two dissociating wave packets of the I2 molecule driven by femtosecond laser pulses is theoretically studied by using the time-dependent quantum wave packet method.Both the internuclear distanceand velocity-dependent density functions are calculated and discussed.It is demonstrated that the interference pattern is determined by the phase difference and the delay time between two pump pulses.With two identical pulses with a delay time of 305 fs and a FWHM of 20 fs,more interference fringes can be observed,while with two pump pulses with a delay time of 80 fs and a FWHM of 20 fs,only a few interference fringes can be observed.