Abstract

We show a practical implementation of a pulse characterization method for sub-cycle pulse measurements in the infrared spectral range based on spectral shearing interferometry. We employ spatially-encoded arrangement filter-based spectral phase interferometry for direct electric field reconstruction with external ancila pulses (X-SEA-F-SPIDER). We show merits and limitations of the setup and an in-depth comparison to another widely used temporal characterization technique - Second-Harmonic Generation Frequency Resolved Optical Gating (SHG-FROG). The X-SEA-F-SPIDER implementation presented in this paper allows measurement of sub-cycle pulses with over one octave wide spectrum spanning the 900-2400 nm range without adding any extra dispersion due to the pulse characterization apparatus.

Highlights

  • Single-cycle and sub-cycle laser waveforms play a critical role in attosecond technology because of the ability to confine a strong-field interaction to a single peak of the electric field [1,2,3]

  • We show a practical implementation of a pulse characterization method for sub-cycle pulse measurements in the infrared spectral range based on spectral shearing interferometry

  • The X-SEA-F-spectral phase interferometry for direct electric-field reconstruction (SPIDER) implementation presented in this paper allows measurement of sub-cycle pulses with over one octave wide spectrum spanning the 900-2400 nm range without adding any extra dispersion due to the pulse characterization apparatus

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Summary

Introduction

Single-cycle and sub-cycle laser waveforms play a critical role in attosecond technology because of the ability to confine a strong-field interaction to a single peak of the electric field [1,2,3]. Sub-cycle pulses spanning 1.5-octave in the near infrared regime (350 nm to 1100 nm) revealed fine details of attosecond electron motion in krypton atoms within a single wave crest [3] The generation of these extremely short field transients require careful dispersion control over ultra broadband spectral bandwidths. The Kagome-lattice structure [9, 10] of the fiber leads to an extremely broad transmission bandwidth and high power handling and enables a compact sub-cycle, GW peak power source suitable for many strong-field applications The characterization of these pulses is, not trivial due to extremely wide bandwidth, central wavelength lying in the IR spectral range and complex temporal intensity profile. We discuss the requirements for pulse measurement methods when the pulse bandwidth is beyond one octave

Technique of choice
Experimental setup
Comparison of X-SEA-F-SPIDER and SHG-FROG measurement results
Limitations of pulse measurement techniques
Extension to longer wavelengths
Pulse measurement in the single-cycle regime
Findings
Conclusion

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