Design of an optically-locked interferometer for attosecond pump-probe setups

Area of Science:

• Ultrafast spectroscopy
• Attosecond science
• Optical metrology

Background:

• Attosecond pump-probe spectroscopy requires precise control over the time delay between interacting laser pulses.
• Fluctuations in optical path lengths can introduce timing jitter, limiting experimental accuracy.
• Existing stabilization methods may be complex or time-consuming to implement.

Purpose of the Study:

• To design and demonstrate an active stabilization system for attosecond pump-probe setups.
• To achieve high-precision temporal delay stabilization within the attosecond regime.
• To provide a user-friendly and rapidly deployable solution for ultrafast experiments.

Main Methods:

• Implementation of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer configuration.
• Coaxial propagation of a continuous-wave (CW) laser with pump and probe beams.
• Utilizing a feedback controller to adjust interferometer arm length and maintain constant CW phase.
• Active stabilization of the relative phase between CW beams to control pump-probe delay.

Main Results:

• The active stabilization system successfully stabilized the time delay between pump and probe beams.
• Achieved a temporal stability of within 10 attoseconds root-mean-square (rms) over several hours.
• Demonstrated ease of operation with setup times of only a few minutes.

Conclusions:

• The developed Mach-Zehnder based system offers robust and precise active stabilization for attosecond pump-probe experiments.
• The system's high stability and rapid setup enhance the reliability and efficiency of ultrafast measurements.
• This technology is valuable for advancing research in attosecond science and related fields.