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Octave-spanning carrier-envelope phase stabilized visible pulse with sub-3-fs pulse duration.
Kotaro Okamura1, Takayoshi Kobayashi
1Advanced Ultrafast Laser Research Center and Department of Engineering Science, University of Electro-Communications, 1-5-1 Chofugaoka, Chofu, Tokyo 182-8585, Japan. okamura@ils.uec.ac.jp
Optics Letters
|January 26, 2011
Summary
Researchers compressed visible second harmonic pulses below 3 femtoseconds using adaptive dispersion control. This technique stabilized the carrier-envelope phase of the optical parametric amplifier
Area of Science:
- Ultrafast optics
- Nonlinear optics
- Femtosecond laser technology
Background:
- Optical parametric amplifiers (OPAs) are crucial for generating tunable ultrashort laser pulses.
- Achieving few-femtosecond pulse durations requires precise control over optical dispersion.
- Carrier-envelope phase (CEP) stabilization is essential for many advanced nonlinear optical experiments.
Purpose of the Study:
- To compress the visible second harmonic of an OPA idler output to sub-3-femtosecond durations.
- To demonstrate the effectiveness of adaptive dispersion control for ultrafast pulse shaping.
- To achieve passive carrier-envelope phase stabilization for both the idler and its second harmonic.
Main Methods:
- Utilized a noncollinear optical parametric amplifier (NOPA) pumped and seeded with 400 nm pulses.
- Employed adaptive dispersion control using a deformable mirror for pulse compression.
- Leveraged a common 400 nm pulse source for simultaneous pumping and seeding to ensure passive CEP stabilization.
Main Results:
- Successfully compressed the visible second harmonic idler pulses to durations below 3 femtoseconds.
- Demonstrated passive carrier-envelope phase stabilization for both the idler and its second harmonic output.
- Validated the use of adaptive optics for fine-tuning ultrafast pulse characteristics.
Conclusions:
- Adaptive dispersion control is a highly effective method for achieving few-femtosecond pulse durations in the visible spectrum.
- The demonstrated technique provides a robust route to CEP-stabilized ultrashort pulses from parametric amplifiers.
- This advancement opens possibilities for new frontiers in ultrafast spectroscopy and nonlinear optics.
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