Train Of Ultrashort Pulses Research Articles

Metal Detection Sensor Utilizing Magneto-Impedance Magnetometer

A magnetometer with a longitudinal sensing line using the MI effect was examined experimentally to find an application to replace conventional metal sensors based on an LVDT. A sampling to the second peak signal from the pickup coil on the sensing head with a long, thin soft magnetic ribbon and driven with an ultrashort pulse train with a pulse width of 5~7 ns formed the front end of the metal sensor. Unmatched degaussing and geomagnetic field compensation methods were effective not only to minimize the remnant magnetic field but also to prevent the saturation of the magnetic ribbon and expand the dynamic range. The active noise reduction process reduced the inherent noise to the 1/3 level with a minimum influence on the detection signal. The proposed metal sensor with unmatched degaussing, geomagnetic field compensation, and active noise reduction techniques demonstrated the detection of a 0.2 mm diameter magnetized ferrous ball.

Ultrawideband Millimeter-Wave Oscillators Based on Two Coupled Gyro-TWTs With Helical Waveguide

We are considering the possibility of ultrawideband millimeter-wave generation in microwave oscillators consisting of two coupled helical-waveguide gyro-TWTs, one of which operating as an amplifier whereas the other acting as a saturable absorber or as a nonlinear converter. In the first case, the regime of passive mode-locking is realized when the radiation represents a periodical train of ultrashort electromagnetic pulses. The spectral domain corresponds to the formation of a microwave “frequency comb.” On the other hand, if the second gyro-TWT acts as a nonlinear converter with a fast variation of the phase characteristic, it leads to the generation of chaotic signals with quasi-continuous spectrum and a bandwidth of up to ~10% which is defined by the bandwidth of the gyro-TWTs.

Distance Measurements Using Mode-Locked Lasers: A Review

We present a progress review on the advance of distance measurements made at KAIST by making use of mode-locked lasers as the light source to meet ever-growing industrial demands on the measurement precision and functionality. Diverse principles exploited for the progress are described in this review with focus on four attributes: first, the optical spectrum of a mode-locked laser, distinctively called the frequency comb, permits multi-wavelength interferometry to be realized for absolute distance measurement up to several meters without losing the nanometer precision of well-established laser-based phase-measuring displacement measurement. Second, the frequency comb enables spectrally resolved interferometry for absolute distance measurement to be conducted with a nanometer resolution by Fourier transform analysis of the dispersive interference data captured using a spectrometer. Third, the mode-locked laser in the time domain appears as a train of ultrashort pulses, of which the time-of-flight is measured with a picosecond resolution by control of the pulse repetition rate with reference to the radio-frequency atomic clock. Fourth, the pulse-to-pulse cross-correlation occurring in the optical frequency domain is down-converted to the radio-frequency domain to achieve femtosecond pulse timing precision by means of dual-comb interference. All these principles based on unique spectral and temporal characteristics of ultrashort mode-locked lasers are anticipated to make contributions to the advance of nanotechnology particularly in manufacturing and metrology.

Steering population transfer of the Na2 molecule by an ultrashort pulse train

We theoretically investigate the complete population transfer among quantum states of the molecule using ultrashort pulse trains using the time-dependent wave packet method. The population accumulation of the target state can be steered by controlling the laser parameters, such as the variable pulse pairs, the different pulse widths, the time delays and the repetition period between two contiguous pulses; in particular, the pulse pairs and the pulse widths have a great effect on the population transfer. The calculations show that the ultrashort pulse train is a feasible solution, which can steer the population transfer from the initial state to the target state efficiently with lower peak intensities.

Attosecond measurements reach electronvolt precision

With a train of ultrashort light pulses, researchers disentangle energetically similar photoionization channels—and solve a seven-year-old puzzle.

The resonant multi-pulse ionization injection

The production of high-quality electron bunches in Laser Wake Field Acceleration relies on the possibility to inject ultra-low emittance bunches in the plasma wave. In this paper, we present a new bunch injection scheme in which electrons extracted by ionization are trapped by a large-amplitude plasma wave driven by a train of resonant ultrashort pulses. In the Resonant Multi-Pulse Ionization injection scheme, the main portion of a single ultrashort (e.g., Ti:Sa) laser system pulse is temporally shaped as a sequence of resonant sub-pulses, while a minor portion acts as an ionizing pulse. Simulations show that high-quality electron bunches with normalized emittance as low as 0.08 mm × mrad and 0.65% energy spread can be obtained with a single present-day 100TW-class Ti:Sa laser system.

Sub-Doppler two-photon absorption induced by the combination of a single-mode laser and a frequency comb

The two-photon transition $5S-5P-5D$ in rubidium vapor is investigated by detecting the fluorescence from the $6P_{3/2}$ state when the atomic system is excited by the combined action of a cw diode laser and a train of ultrashort pulses. The cw-laser plays a role as a velocity-selective filter and allows for a spectroscopy over a large spectral range including the $5D_{3/2}$ and $5D_{5/2}$ states. For a counterpropagating beam configuration, the response of each atomic velocity group is well characterized within the Doppler profile, and the excited hyperfine levels are clearly resolved. The contribution of the optical pumping to the direct two-photon process is also revealed. The results are well described in a frequency domain picture by considering the interaction of each velocity group with the cw laser and the modes of the frequency comb.

Cross-correlation frequency-resolved optical gating for characterization of an ultrashort optical pulse train

A technique involving cross-correlation frequency-resolved optical gating is applied in characterizing an optical pulse train consisting of several spectral components. An optical beat was used as a reference pulse for measuring the relative spectral phase among the spectral components in the test pulse generated by four-wave Raman mixing in hydrogen gas. It was confirmed that a change in the relative phase can be measured by monitoring the shift in the interference fringe and that Raman emissions generated by four-wave Raman mixing are phase locked.

Real-time broadband radio frequency spectrum analyzer based on parametric spectro-temporal analyzer (PASTA).

A real-time broadband radio frequency (RF) spectrum analyzer is proposed and experimentally demonstrated to rapidly measure the RF spectrum of broadband optical signal. Cross phase modulation in the highly-nonlinear fiber is used to convert the RF spectrum carried by the pump to the optical spectrum of the probe signal, then the optical spectrum is real-time analyzed with the parametric spectro-temporal analyzer (PASTA) technology. The system performances are investigated in detail, including bandwidth, resolution, frame rate, and dynamic range. It achieves large RF bandwidth of over 800 GHz, as well as 91-MHz frame rate without sacrificing the resolution. It is noted that 91-MHz frame rate is several orders of magnitude improvement over those previous reported all-optical RF spectrum analyzers. As a proof-of-concept demonstration, this real-time broadband RF spectrum analyzer successfully characterizes the ultra-short pulse trains with repetition rate of 160GHz, which is far beyond capability of the conventional electrical spectrum analyzer. It presents a new way to implement rapid and broadband RF spectrum measurement, and would be of great interests for some ultrafast scenarios, where the real-time RF spectrum analysis can be applied.

Coherent blue emission generated by Rb two-photon excitation using diode and femtosecond lasers

The coherent blue light generated in rubidium vapor due to the combined action of an ultrashort pulse train and a continuous wave diode laser is investigated. Each step of the two-photon transition 5S–5P–5D is excited by one of the lasers, and the induced coherence between the 5S and 6P states is responsible for generating the blue beam. Measurements of the excitation spectrum reveal the frequency comb structure and allow us to identify the resonant modes responsible for inducing the nonlinear process. Further, each resonant mode excites a different group of atoms, making the process selective in atomic velocity. The signal dependency on the atomic density is characterized by a sharp growth and a rapid saturation. We also show that for high intensity of the diode laser, the Stark shift at resonance causes the signal suppression observed at low atomic density.

Generation of trains of ultrashort microwave pulses by two coupled helical gyro-TWTs operating in regimes of amplification and nonlinear absorption

Based on a time-domain model, we demonstrate that a periodic train of powerful ultrashort microwave pulses can be generated in an electron oscillator consisting of two coupled helically corrugated gyrotron travelling wave tubes (gyro-TWTs) operating in regimes of amplification and saturable absorption, respectively. The mechanism of pulse formation in such an oscillator is based on the effect of passive mode-locking widely used in laser physics. Saturable absorption can be implemented in a gyro-TWT in the Kompfner dip regime by a proper matching of the guiding magnetic field. According to simulations with the parameters of an experimentally realized Ka-band gyro-TWT, the peak power of generated pulses with a duration of 200 ps can achieve 400 kW.

Filamentation of an ultrashort laser pulse train in air

Filamentation of an ultrashort laser pulse train in air

A novel generation scheme of ultra-short pulse trains with multiple wavelengths

We demonstrate a novel scheme based on active mode locking combined with four-wave mixing (FWM) to generate ultra-short pulse trains at high repetition rate with multiple wavelengths for applications in various fields. The obtained six wavelengths display high uniformity both in temporal and frequency domain. Pulses at each wavelength are mode locked with pulse duration of ~44.37ps, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of ~47.89dB, root-mean-square (RMS) timing jitter of ~552.7 fs, and the time-bandwidth product of ~0.68 at repetition rate of 1GHz. The experimental results show this scheme has promising usage in optical communications, optical networks, and fiber sensing.

Temporal cloak with large fractional hiding window at telecommunication data rate

We design and experimentally investigate a temporal cloak scheme using ultrashort pulse compression and time-domain Fraunhofer diffraction. An input continuous-wave probe beam is compressed to ultrashort pulse train based on self-phase modulation effect and chirp compensation using single mode fiber. Accordingly, wide temporal gaps appear to act as the cloaking windows. The train of ultrashort pulses can be converted to continuous wave after experiencing enough dispersion, indicating that the temporal gaps are closed. Thus, any time events will be hidden in the temporal gaps from observers. In our study, we demonstrated a temporal cloak system, which is able to hide 88% of the whole time period and cloak pseudorandom digital data at a bitrate of 10 Gbit/s. The relationships of cloaking window fraction versus pump power and the condition of cloaking off are also investigated. These results present a new feasible way towards obtaining a high-fractional cloaking window at telecommunication data rate and hiding real-world messages.

Instabilities in the optical response of a semiconductor quantum dot—metal nanoparticle heterodimer: self-oscillations and chaos

We theoretically investigate the nonlinear optical response of a heterodimer comprising a semiconductor quantum dot strongly coupled to a metal nanoparticle. The quantum dot is considered as a three-level ladder system with ground, one-exciton, and bi-exction states. As compared to the case of a two-level quantum dot model, adding the third (bi-exciton) state produces fascinating effects in the optical response of the hybrid system. Specifically, we demonstrate that the system may exhibit picosecond and sub-picosecond self-oscillations and quasi-chaotic behaviour under single-frequency continuous wave excitation. An isolated semiconductor quantum dot does not show such features. The effects originate from competing one-exciton and bi-exciton transitions in the semiconductor quantum dot, triggered by the self-action of the quantum dot via the metal nanoparticle. The key parameter that governs the phenomena mentioned is the ratio of the self-action strength and the bi-exciton shift. The self-oscillation regime can be achieved in practice, in particular, in a heterodimer comprised of a closely spaced ZnS/ZnSe core-shell quantum dot and a spherical silver nanoparticle. The results may have applications in nanodevices for generating trains of ultrashort optical pulses.

Investigations of the Talbot effects for a grating illuminated by the ultrashort optical pulses

Based on the theories of the Fresnel diffraction and the signal processing, the Talbot effects for a grating illuminated by a train of ultrashort optical pulses are investigated numerically. Influences of the input pulse parameters and the grating structure on the Talbot images are discussed detailedly. Results demonstrate that the contrast of the high/low field boundary becomes obscure for the optical pulse with shorter temporal duration and chirp. And a grating with smaller duty cycle (DC) is easier to the formation of constructive interference field. In addition, although the high/low field distribution resembles as the image of grating period at the integer Talbot detecting planes, it repeats k-times at the fractional Talbot detecting plane, which can be exploited for obtaining higher pulse repetition rate multiplication.

Ultrashort optical pulse source using Mach–Zehnder-modulator-based flat comb generator

We reported ultrashort pulse generation using a Mach–Zehnder-modulator-based flat comb generator (MZ-FCG) and a dispersion-flattened dispersion-decreasing fiber (DF-DDF). Our source has high stability, low jitter, and independent control of the repetition rate and center wavelength. 80 fs-order ultrashort pulse generation was demonstrated. The phase noise of the ultrashort pulse train is determined by that of the microwave signal driving the MZ-FCG, which was -110 dBc/Hz at the offset frequency of 100 kHz. The rms timing jitter of the femtosecond pulses was 80 fs, and the frequency stability evaluated with Allan deviation was in the order of 10−13.

Adjustable high-repetition-rate pulse trains in a passively-mode-locked fiber laser

We experimentally investigate multipulse regimes obtained within a passively-mode-locked fiber laser that includes a Mach-Zehnder (MZ) interferometer. By adjusting the time delay imbalance of the MZ, ultrashort pulse trains at multi-GHz repetition rates are generated. We compare the observed dynamics with high-harmonic mode locking, and show that the multi-GHz pulse trains display an inherent instability, which has been overlooked. By using a recirculation loop containing the MZ, we demonstrate a significant improvement of the pulse train stability.

Generation of a train of ultrashort pulses using periodic waves in tapered photonic crystal fibres

We consider a light wave propagation in tapered photonic crystal fibres (PCFs) wherein the wave propagation is described by the variable coefficient nonlinear Schrödinger equation. We solve it directly by means of the theta function identities and Hirota bilinear method in order to obtain the exact periodic waves of sn, cn and dn types. These chirped period waves demand exponential variations in both dispersion and nonlinearity. Besides, we analytically demonstrate the generation of a train of ultrashort pulses using the periodic waves by exploiting the exponentially varying optical properties of the tapered PCFs. As a special case, we discuss the chirped solitary pulses under long wave limit of these periodic waves. In addition, we derive these types of periodic waves using the self-similar analysis and compare the results.

Generation of “gigantic” ultra-short microwave pulses based on passive mode-locking effect in electron oscillators with saturable absorber in the feedback loop

A periodic train of powerful ultrashort microwave pulses can be generated in electron oscillators with a non-linear saturable absorber installed in the feedback loop. This method of pulse formation resembles the passive mode-locking widely used in laser physics. Nevertheless, there is a specific feature in the mechanism of pulse amplification when consecutive energy extraction from different fractions of a stationary electron beam takes place due to pulse slippage over the beam caused by the difference between the wave group velocity and the electron axial velocity. As a result, the peak power of generated “gigantic” pulses can exceed not only the level of steady-state generation but also, in the optimal case, the power of the driving electron beam.