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16-fs, 1-microJ ultraviolet pulses generated by third-harmonic conversion in air.
Optics Letters
|October 31, 2009
Summary
Researchers generated ultrashort ultraviolet light pulses using a Ti:sapphire laser. This simple method produces sub-20-femtosecond (fs) pulses with high average power, useful for various scientific applications.
Area of Science:
- Ultrafast optics
- Laser physics
- Nonlinear optics
Background:
- Generating ultrashort light pulses is crucial for studying ultrafast phenomena.
- Existing methods for producing ultraviolet (UV) pulses can be complex or lack sufficient power.
- Ti:sapphire laser systems are widely used for generating femtosecond pulses.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a simple and efficient method for generating sub-20-femtosecond (fs) ultraviolet (UV) light pulses.
- To achieve useful average powers for practical applications.
- To characterize the generated UV pulses.
Main Methods:
- Utilizing a kilohertz Ti:sapphire laser system.
- Focusing a 22-femtosecond (fs), 1-millijoule (mJ) laser pulse in ambient air.
- Employing frequency-resolved optical gating (FROG) for pulse duration measurement.
Main Results:
- Successfully generated ultraviolet pulses at a wavelength of 266 nm.
- Achieved an energy of 1 microjoule (µJ) per pulse.
- Obtained an average power of 1 milliwatt (mW).
- Measured the pulse duration of the generated UV pulses to be 16 fs.
Conclusions:
- A straightforward method for generating sub-20-fs UV pulses with useful average power has been demonstrated.
- The technique leverages a standard Ti:sapphire laser system and air as the nonlinear medium.
- The generated 16-fs UV pulses at 266 nm open possibilities for advanced spectroscopic and nonlinear optical studies.
