Hollow-fiber Compression Technique Research Articles

Generation of stable sub-10 fs pulses at 400 nm in a hollow fiber for UV pump-probe experiment

Stable sub-10-fs pulses useful for many pump-probe experiments with center wavelength at 400 nm were obtained using a hollow-fiber compression technique with a beam-pointing stabilizing system. The output power stability was improved by around 2-times with the beam-pointing stabilizer. A 1-mm-thick cell sample of perylene dissolved in cyclohexane was used to test the pulse using for the pump-probe experiment. Even the high C-H stretching of vibration mode at around 2860 cm(-1), 2916 cm(-1), and 2955 cm(-1) were real-time resolved with vibrational phase information.

Generation and application of high energy, 30 fs pulses at 527 nm by hollow-fiber compression technique

The compression of laser pulses at 527 nm, 250 fs long, down to 30 fs is reported. The laser pulses, originated from a frequency-doubled, mode-locked Nd:glass laser, were compressed by a 0.7-m-long, 150-μ m-bore-diameter argon-filled hollow fiber and a pair of SF10 prisms with a final energy of 160 μJ. These are the shortest, high energy pulses ever produced by direct pulse compression at the central wavelength of 527 nm. The spectral broadening of the pulses propagating inside the hollow fiber was experimentally examined for various filling-gas pressures and input pulse energies. The physical limitations of the hollow-fiber pulse compression technique applied in the visible range are also studied. An application to laser ablation of Ni target is performed. Metal nanoparticles are obtained both with the 250-fs and with the 30-fs pulse.

Generation of 43 fs, 1 mJ laser pulses via compression of circularly polarized pulses in a gas-filled hollow-core fiber

We report the generation of 4.3 fs, 1 mJ pulses at 1 kHz using a hollow-core fiber compressor seeded with circularly polarized laser pulses. We observe up to 30% more energy throughput compared to the case of linearly polarized laser input, together with significantly improved output spectral stability. Seeding with circularly polarized pulses proves to be an effective approach for high-energy operation of the hollow-fiber compression technique.

Generation of high energy, 30 fs pulses at 527 nm by hollow-fiber compression technique

The compression of 300-fs-long, chirp-free laser pulses at 527 nm down to 30 fs is reported. The laser pulses, originated from a frequency-doubled, mode-locked Nd:glass laser, were compressed by a 0.7-m-long, 150-microm-bore-diameter, argon-filled hollow fiber, and a pair of SF10 prisms with a final energy of 160 microJ. These are the shortest, high energy pulses ever produced by direct pulse compression at the central wavelength of 527 nm. The spectral broadening of the pulses propagating inside the hollow fiber was experimentally examined for various filling-gas pressures and input pulse energies. The spectral width of the pulses was broadened up to 25 nm, and 27 nm for argon- and krypton-filled hollow fiber, respectively, at a gas pressure lower than 2 bar. The physical limitations of the hollow-fiber pulse compression technique applied in the visible range are also studied.

Hollow-fiber compression of visible, 200 fs laser pulses to 40 fs pulse duration

We demonstrate the use of a very simple, compact, and versatile method, based on the hollow-fiber compression technique, to shorten the temporal length of visible laser pulses of 100-300 fs to pulse durations shorter than approximately 50 fs. In particular, 200 fs, frequency-doubled, Nd:glass laser pulses (527 nm) were spectrally broadened to final bandwidths as large as 25 nm by nonlinear propagation through an Ar-filled hollow fiber. A compact, dispersive, prism-pair compressor was then used to produce as short as 40 fs, 150 microJ pulses. A very satisfactory agreement between numerical simulations and measurements is found.

Phase-matching analysis of high-order harmonics generated by truncated Bessel beams in the sub-10-fs regime

We describe a very simple physical model that allows the analysis of high-order harmonic generation in gases when the pumping laser beam has an intensity profile that is not Gaussian but truncated Bessel. This is the typical experimental condition when sub-10-fs pump-laser pulses, generated by the hollow fiber compression technique, are used. This model is based on the analysis of the phase-matching conditions for the harmonic generation process revisited in view of the new spatial mode of the fundamental beam. In particular, the role of the atomic dipole phase and the geometric phase terms are evidenced both for harmonics generated in the plateau and in the cutoff spectral regions. The influence of dispersion introduced by free electrons produced by laser ionization has also been discussed in some detail. Spatial patterns of far-field harmonics are then obtained by means of a simplified algorithm which allows one to avoid the numerical integration of the harmonic beam propagation equation. Experimental spatial distributions and divergence angles of high-order harmonics generated in Ne with 7-fs titanium-sapphire pulses are compared with numerical simulations in various experimental conditions. The agreement between measurements and calculated results is found to be very satisfactory.

The role of beam profile in high-order harmonic generation by few-optical-cycle pulses

Few-optical-cycle light pulses, produced by the hollow-fiber compression technique, are used to generate high-order harmonics with excellent spatial characteristics at wavelengths as short as 10 nm. We show that the spatial features of the harmonic radiation are strongly affected by the spatial profile of the excitation beam. The role of the fundamental beam shape has been carefully investigated by means of numerical simulations. The use of a fundamental beam with truncated Bessel radial intensity profile, produced upon propagation along a hollow fiber, allows us to obtain low-divergence, high-brightness harmonic radiation.

High-brightness high-order harmonic generation by truncated bessel beams in the sub-10-fs regime.

Low-divergence, high-brightness harmonic emission has been generated by using a fundamental beam with a truncated Bessel intensity profile. Such a beam is directly obtained by using the hollow-fiber compression technique, which indeed allows one to optimize both temporal and spatial characteristics of the high-order harmonic generation process. This is particularly important for the applications of radiation, where extreme temporal resolution and high brightness are required.

Few-optical-cycle laser pulses: from high peak power to frequency tunability

Recent advances in ultrafast laser technology have led to the generation of light pulses comprising few optical cycles employing different compression techniques. In particular, two techniques have been developed, which allow addressing the issues of high peak power or frequency tunability in a wide spectral range, namely: the hollow-fiber compression technique and the optical parametric amplification. The paper analyzes the general scheme of pulse compression and reports on the most interesting results obtained using the above-mentioned techniques. The combination of spectral broadening in a gas-filled hollow fiber with ultrabroad-band dispersion control, has led to the generation of pulses with duration of /spl sim/5 fs with peak powers up to 0.11 TW. Using optical parametric amplifiers with different configurations sub-15-fs laser pulses have been generated tunable in the visible and in the near-infrared.