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Octave spanning wedge dispersive mirrors with low dispersion oscillations
Optics Express
|May 4, 2016
Summary
A new wedge dispersive mirror design significantly reduces spectral dispersion oscillations for octave-spanning bandwidths. This innovation enables ultrashort pulse compression down to 3.8 fs, rivaling existing technologies.
Area of Science:
- Optics and Photonics
- Ultrafast Laser Technology
Background:
- Achieving octave-spanning spectral bandwidths in optical systems is crucial for ultrafast pulse generation.
- Conventional dispersive mirrors often suffer from spectral dispersion oscillations, limiting pulse compression performance.
- Minimizing group delay dispersion (GDD) oscillations is essential for generating few-cycle pulses.
Purpose of the Study:
- To introduce a novel concept for octave-spanning dispersive mirrors with minimized spectral dispersion oscillations.
- To demonstrate the effectiveness of the wedge dispersive mirror design for ultrashort pulse compression.
Main Methods:
- Development of a wedge dispersive mirror featuring a slightly wedged layer atop an optimized multilayer stack.
- Fabrication of the mirrors using a standard sputter coating process.
- Characterization of the group delay dispersion (GDD) performance and pulse compression capabilities.
Main Results:
- The wedge dispersive mirror exhibits group delay dispersion (GDD) that is nearly free of oscillations across an octave bandwidth.
- Fabricated mirrors with negative GDD achieved pulse compression down to an impressive 3.8 femtoseconds (fs).
- Performance is comparable to double-angled mirrors optimized for similar bandwidths.
Conclusions:
- The novel wedge dispersive mirror design offers a promising solution for low-oscillation, octave-spanning dispersion compensation.
- This technology enables high-performance ultrashort pulse compression, advancing ultrafast optics applications.
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