Generation of ultrashort pulses by four wave mixing in a gas-filled hollow core fiber

Anna G Ciriolo,Matteo Negro,Caterina Vozzi,Michele Devetta,Aditya Pusala,Davide Faccialà,Giacomo Mariani,Salvatore Stagira

doi:10.1088/2040-8986/aaec41

Abstract

The four wave mixing (FWM) process is widely exploited for the generation of tunable ultrashort light pulses. Usually this process is driven in bulk materials, which are however prone to optical damage at high pump laser intensities. A tunable source of ultrashort 10 μJ level pulses in the visible spectral region is described here. In particular, we report on the implementation of FWM driven by a two-color ultrafast laser pulse inside a gas-filled hollow core fiber (HCF). Due to the high-damage threshold and the long interaction distance, the HCF-based FWM configuration proves to be suitable for high-energy applications. Moreover, this technique can be potentially used for ultrashort pulses generation within a wide range of spectral regions; a discussion on the possibility to extend our scheme to the generation of few-cycle mid-IR pulse is provided.

Highlights

Over the last few decades, the development of ultrafast laser sources led to remarkable advances in the field of spectroscopy, providing a powerful technology for studying atomic, molecular and solid state dynamics on an ultrashort time scale [1]
This technique can be potentially used for ultrashort pulses generation within a wide range of spectral regions; a discussion on the possibility to extend our scheme to the generation of few-cycle mid-IR pulse is provided
We explore a different approach to wavelength-tunable ultrashort pulses generation in the visible spectral region based on four wave mixing (FWM) inside a gas-filled hollow core fiber

Summary

Introduction

Over the last few decades, the development of ultrafast laser sources led to remarkable advances in the field of spectroscopy, providing a powerful technology for studying atomic, molecular and solid state dynamics on an ultrashort time scale [1]. The leading approach for high-energy wavelength-tunable ultra-broadband pulse generation is provided by optical parametric amplification (OPA). Elu et al demonstrated the generation of 100 μJ 3 μm pulses at 160 kHz with a duration down to the single-cycle regime by OPCPA followed by soliton self compression inside a gas-filled photonic crystal fiber [11]. We explore a different approach to wavelength-tunable ultrashort pulses generation in the visible spectral region based on four wave mixing (FWM) inside a gas-filled hollow core fiber. By properly selecting the experimental parameters, ultra-broadband FWM generation in the mid-IR is numerically predicted (the corresponding photons combination rule is 2ω2 − ω1 = ω3 in this case), supporting the possibility to extend our scheme to longwavelength pulse generation in the few-cycle regime

Experimental methods and results

Conclusions