Femtosecond Noncollinear Parametric Amplification and Carrier-Envelope Phase Control

Abstract

AbstractThis chapter presents the basic principles for three parametric interactions that enhance bandwidth to obtain short pulses while maintaining phase matching. To extend the bandwidth, we introduced a noncollinear configuration between the pump and signal. The idea is used in three different parametric processes: optical parametric generation (OPG), optical parametric amplification (OPA), and optical parametric oscillation (OPO). Using noncollinear phase matching, we developed a noncollinear-optical-parametric amplifier (NOPA) that delivers 4 fs visible-near-infrared pulses. We designed geometrical and temporal configurations of the NOPA that broaden the gain bandwidth in excess of 250 THz. The main requirements for bandwidth enhancement include (1) phase matching, (2) group-velocity matching, (3) pulse-front matching, and (4) optimization of the angular dispersion of the pump. To achieve the extended-gain bandwidth, full phase adjustment is performed by several compensators, including a prism pair, a grating-mirror system equivalent to a grating pair, chirped mirrors, and a deformable mirror. By adding these devices to the NOPA system, we obtained pulse widths of 3.9 fs in the visible and NIR spectral range.Key wordscarrier-envelope phaseoptical parametric amplification