Train Of Ultrashort Pulses Research Articles

Switchable Q-switched and modelocked operation in ytterbium doped fiber laser under all-normal-dispersion configuration.

We have constructed an Yb-doped fiber laser in all-normal-dispersion configuration which can be independently operated in Q-switched or modelocked configuration with the help of a simple fiber optic ring resonator (FORR). In the presence of FORR, the laser operates in Q-switched mode producing stable pulses in the range of 1 μs-200 ns with repetition rate in the range of 45 kHz-82 kHz. On the other hand, the laser can be easily switched to mode-locked operation by disjoining the FORR loop producing train of ultrashort pulses of ∼5 ps duration (compressible to ∼150 fs) at ∼38 MHz repetition rate. The transmission characteristics of FORR in combination with the nonlinear polarization rotation for passive Q-switching operation is numerically investigated and experimentally verified. The laser can serve as a versatile seed source for power amplifier which can be easily configured for application in the fields that require different pulsed fiber lasers.

Interaction of ultrashort laser pulses and silicon solar cells under short circuit conditions

Ultrashort pulse lasers are promising tools for numerous measurement purposes. Among other benefits their high peak powers allow for efficient generation of wavelengths in broad spectral ranges and at spectral powers that are orders of magnitude higher than in conventional light sources. Very recently this has been exploited for the establishment of sophisticated measurement facilities for electrical characterization of photovoltaic (PV) devices. As the high peak powers of ultrashort pulses promote nonlinear optical effects they might also give rise to nonlinear interactions with the devices under test that possibly manipulate the measurement outcome. In this paper, we present a comprehensive theoretical and experimental study of the nonlinearities affecting short circuit current (ISC) measurements of silicon (Si) solar cells. We derive a set of coupled differential equations describing the radiation-device interaction and discuss the nonlinearities incorporated in those. By a semi-analytical approach introducing a quasi-steady-state approximation and integrating a Green's function we solve the system of equations and obtain simulated ISC values. We validate the theoretical model by ISC ratios obtained from a double ring resonator setup capable for reproducible generation of various ultrashort pulse trains. Finally, we apply the model to conduct the most prominent comparison of ISC generated by ultrashort pulses versus continuous illumination. We conclude by the important finding that the nonlinearities induced by ultrashort pulses are negligible for the most common ISC measurements. However, we also find that more specialized measurements (e.g., of concentrating PV or Si-multijunction devices as well as highly localized electrical characterizations) will be biased by two-photon-absorption distorting the ISC measurement.

Attosecond timing in optical-to-electrical conversion

The most frequency-stable sources of electromagnetic radiation are produced optically, and optical frequency combs provide the means for high-fidelity frequency transfer across hundreds of terahertz and into the microwave domain. A critical step in this photonic-based synthesis of microwave signals is the optical-to-electrical conversion process. Here, we show that attosecond (as) timing stability can be preserved across the opto-electronic interface of a photodiode, despite an intrinsic temporal response that is more than six orders of magnitude slower. The excess timing noise in the photodetection of a periodic train of ultrashort optical pulses behaves as flicker noise (1/f) with amplitude of 4 as/√Hz at 1 Hz offset. The corresponding fractional frequency fluctuations are 1.4×10−17 at 1 s and 5.5×10−20 at 1000 s. These results demonstrate that direct photodetection, as part of frequency-comb-based microwave synthesis, can support the timing performance of the best optical frequency standards, and thereby opens the possibility for generating microwave signals with significantly better stability than any existing source.

Ultrahigh Count Coherent WDM Channels Transmission Using Optical Parametric Comb-Based Frequency Synthesizer

A novel optical frequency synthesizer capable of generating a multitude of narrow linewidth oscillations, fully compatible with high-speed fiber-optic transmission requirements, is presented. The new device is based on an ultra-dense and wideband parametric comb capable of generating more than 1800 spectral lines with 6.25 GHz spacing within 100 nm (C + L band) of optical bandwidth and 3 dB spectral flatness. The parametric comb generation relies on the highly efficient nonlinear interaction of the ultra-short and high peak power pulse train in the precisely controlled dispersive medium. The generated comb source is used for coherent transmission of 1520 Nyquist ultra-dense wavelength division multiplexed channels in a flex-grid compatible optical access network architecture, offering up to 30 Gb/s per user over a 50 km of standard single mode fiber with estimated aggregate capacity of 32 Tb/s. The line spacing tunablity and one-to-multiple coherent cloning capability make the proposed multicarrier generator a strong contender fully capable of replacing thousands of discrete lasers in optical data communication systems.

Timing synchronization based on mode-locked fiber lasers with attosecond timing jitter

Mode-locked fiber lasers output ultra-short pulse trains with extremely high temporal stability, showing great potential in systems that require precise timing synchronization, such as pump-probe experiments, high-speed analog-to-digital conversion, large-scale timing distribution and coherent combination. The fiber lasers are usually simpler, less costly, more efficient and more robust to the environment than solid state lasers, making them a better option for real-world applications. With the atto second temporal resolution of the balanced optical cross-correlation (BOC) method, timing jitter of mode-locked fiber lasers has been carefully measured and optimized over the last decade. However, due to the inherently large amplified spontaneous emission noise in the long gain fiber and broad pulse width inside the laser cavity, the quantum-noise-limited timing jitter of mode-locked fiber lasers is still much higher than that of the solid state lasers. In order to further optimize the timing synchronization of mode-locked fiber laser, larger locking bandwidth is required to suppress the low-frequency timing jitter, which contributes significantly to the total amount of residual timing jitter. In this work, tight timing synchronization between two mode-locked Yb-fiber lasers is achieved via a feedback loop built on an intra-cavity electro-optic phase modulator. Both lasers work in the stretched-pulse regime, which has been proven to support the lowest quantum-noise-limited timing jitter of mode-locked fiber laser. The output of the BOC system provides a timing error discriminator of 40 mV/fs, corresponding to 13 as resolution within the integration bandwidth. When the pulse trains from both lasers are successfully synchronized, the residual timing jitter can be measured with the same signal as that used for timing synchronization Based on the residual timing jitter measurement, the intra-cavity dynamics of the laser and the locking parameters of the feedback loop can be further optimized and a tight synchronization with 400 kHz locking bandwidth is finally achieved. When performing the integration from 1 Hz to 10 MHz, the residual timing error is as low as 109 as, corresponding to 77 as averaged timing jitter of each laser. A parallel out-of-loop single-arm cross-correlation measurement is also performed to test the validity of the in-loop results, and both measurements agree with each other.

Targeting multiple rescatterings through VUV-controlled high-order-harmonic generation

We theoretically investigate the use of an isolated attosecond vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) pulse to control the emergence of multiple wave-packet rescatterings in the process of high-harmonic generation (HHG). Through numerical solution of the time-dependent Schr\odinger equation for a He atom driven by $0.8--2.0\text{\ensuremath{-}}\ensuremath{\mu}\mathrm{m}$ light, we establish the relationship between evidence of multiple rescatterings in HHG and the time delay between the VUV and infrared pulses. We find features of multiple rescatterings present in both the time and frequency domains of emitted HHG, and demonstrate the use of VUV-induced multiple rescatterings for generating trains of ultrashort light pulses.

Ultrashort pulse train generation using nonlinear optical fibers with exponentially decreasing dispersion

We propose and numerically demonstrate a simple method to generate a high-repetition-rate ultrashort pulse train. We show that the nonlinear propagation of a prechirped dual-frequency signal through a fiber with exponentially decreasing dispersion will give rise to a train of noninteracting solitons at a high repetition rate.

Efficient optical trapping of CdTe quantum dots by femtosecond laser pulses.

The development in optical trapping and manipulation has been showing rapid progress, most of it is in the small particle sizes in nanometer scales, substituting the conventional continuous-wave lasers with high-repetition-rate ultrashort laser pulse train and nonlinear optical effects. Here, we evaluate two-photon absorption in optical trapping of 2.7 nm-sized CdTe quantum dots (QDs) with high-repetition-rate femtosecond pulse train by probing laser intensity dependence of both Rayleigh scattering image and the two-photon-induced luminescence spectrum of the optically trapped QDs. The Rayleigh scattering imaging indicates that the two-photon absorption (TPA) process enhances trapping ability of the QDs. Similarly, a nonlinear increase of the two-photon-induced luminescence with the incident laser intensity fairly indicates the existence of the TPA process.

Modulation instability with arbitrarily high perturbation frequencies in metamaterials with nonlinear dispersion and saturable nonlinearity

We present an analytical study of modulation instability (MI) in metamaterial (MM) with first-order and second-order nonlinear dispersion for three types of saturable nonlinearity. Apart from the conventional MI gain spectrum, we find two additional MI gain spectra that arise from the second-order nonlinear dispersion in the MM (provided that the group-velocity dispersion does not vanish): one showing a low cutoff frequency but no high cutoff frequency and the other showing no cutoff frequency. Under certain conditions, a threshold power may be required for MI to occur. These MI gain spectra rarely exist in conventional materials and suggest the possibility of observing MI at arbitrarily high perturbation frequencies, which could be explored for the generation of high-repetition-rate ultrashort electromagnetic pulse trains.

Ti : sapphire / KrF hybrid laser system generating trains of subterawatt subpicosecond UV pulses

The GARPUN-MTW Ti : sapphire / KrF hybrid laser system is used to investigate different multipass schemes for amplifying trains of ultrashort pulses (USPs) of subpicosecond duration. It is shown that, for an USP repetition period of , which exceeds the gain-medium recovery time , trains are amplified in the same way as single USPs. Due to this, a train can efficiently extract pump energy from the amplifier and sum energies of individual USPs. The energy of a four-USP train, extracted during four passes through the preamplifier and two passes through the final KrF amplifier ( scheme), is saturated at a level of and corresponds to maximum USP peak powers of about . The energy of amplified spontaneous emission (ASE), on the contrary, rapidly increases at a large total gain length and is approximately equal to the USP energy. In the and schemes the USP energy decreases only slightly, to and , and the ASE fraction is reduced to about 10 % and 3 %, respectively. USP self-focusing leads to multiple laser beam filamentation and a 200-fold local increase in the radiation intensity in filaments, to , a level at which the nonlinear loss in the output windows of the KrF amplifier, caused by three-photon absorption, nonlinear scattering, and broadening of the radiation spectrum to a value exceeding the gain band of the KrF laser transition, becomes the main factor determining the saturation of the USP output energy.

Ultrashort pulse breaking in optical fiber with third-order dispersion and quintic nonlinearity

The optical wave breaking (OWB) characteristics in terms of the pulse shape, spectrum, and frequency chirp, in the normal dispersion regime of an optical fiber with both the third-order dispersion (TOD) and quintic nonlinearity (QN) are numerically calculated. The results show that the TOD causes the asymmetry of the temporal- and spectral-domain, and the chirp characteristics. The OWB generally appears near the pulse center and at the trailing edge of the pulse, instead of at the two edges of the pulse symmetrically in the case of no TOD. With the increase of distance, the relation of OWB to the TOD near the pulse center increases quickly, leading to the generation of ultra-short pulse trains, while the OWB resulting from the case of no TOD at the trailing edge of the pulse disappears gradually. In addition, the positive (negative) QN enhances (weakens) the chirp amount and the fine structures, thereby inducing the OWB phenomena to appear earlier (later). Thus, the TOD and the positive (negative) QN are beneficial (detrimental) to the OWB and the generation of ultra-short pulse trains.

Pulse train induced rotational excitation and orientation of a polar molecule

We investigate theoretically the rotational excitation and field free molecular orientation of polar HBr molecule, interacting with train of ultrashort laser pulses. By adjusting the number of pulses, pulse period and the intensity of the pulse, one can suppress a population while simultaneously enhancing the desired population in particular rotational state. We have used train of laser pulses of different shaped pulse envelopes. The dynamics and orientation of molecules in the presence of pulse train of different shapes is studied and explained.

Coherent control of the waveforms of recoilless γ-ray photons

The concepts and ideas of coherent, nonlinear and quantum optics have been extended to photon energies in the range of 10-100 kiloelectronvolts, corresponding to soft γ-ray radiation (the term used when the radiation is produced in nuclear transitions) or, equivalently, hard X-ray radiation (the term used when the radiation is produced by electron motion). The recent experimental achievements in this energy range include the demonstration of parametric down-conversion in the Langevin regime, electromagnetically induced transparency in a cavity, the collective Lamb shift, vacuum-assisted generation of atomic coherences and single-photon revival in nuclear absorbing multilayer structures. Also, realization of single-photon coherent storage and stimulated Raman adiabatic passage were recently proposed in this regime. More related work is discussed in a recent review. However, the number of tools for the coherent manipulation of interactions between γ-ray photons and nuclear ensembles remains limited. Here we suggest and implement an efficient method to control the waveforms of γ-ray photons coherently. In particular, we demonstrate the conversion of individual recoilless γ-ray photons into a coherent, ultrashort pulse train and into a double pulse. Our method is based on the resonant interaction of γ-ray photons with an ensemble of nuclei with a resonant transition frequency that is periodically modulated in time. The frequency modulation, which is achieved by a uniform vibration of the resonant absorber, owing to the Doppler effect, renders resonant absorption and dispersion both time dependent, allowing us to shape the waveforms of the incident γ-ray photons. We expect that this technique will lead to advances in the emerging fields of coherent and quantum γ-ray photon optics, providing a basis for the realization of γ-ray-photon/nuclear-ensemble interfaces and quantum interference effects at nuclear γ-ray transitions.

Thermal refraction in ionic liquids induced by a train of femtosecond laser pulses

The Z-scan technique is used to characterize the nonlinear refraction induced by a train of ultrashort laser pulses (80 fs, repetition rate 80.75 MHz) for a set of ionic liquids as a function of their structural parameters such as cation, anion type and alkyl chain length in the cation. The nonlinear refractive index change is originated by linear absorption processes which cause a nonlocal and inhomogeneous increase of temperature in the irradiated region of the sample that behaves as a thermal lens. The thermal refraction, according to the thermal lens model, is mainly related to three physical properties of the medium, which are the absorption at the excitation wavelength, the thermal conductivity and the thermo-optic coefficient. We explore the influence of anions and cations on these properties and on the thermal lens strength. The cationic influence was the object of study for the ILs based on the 1-butyl-3-methyl-imidazolium cation. The anionic influence was studied for the ILs based on the bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide anion. The obtained results show that both cation and anion affect significantly the thermal lens strength. The thermal refraction is 1.6 times higher in 1-butyl-3-methyl-imidazolium chloride than in 1-butyl-3-methyl-imidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide, and 3.3 times higher in trihexyl(tetradecyl)phosphonium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide than in 1-butylpyridinium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide. Optical absorption at 810 nm is influenced by both ionic parts, whereas the anion hardly determines the magnitude of the thermal conductivity. • We measure the thermal lens effect in a set of ionic liquids with Z-scan. • We study the cation (anion) influence when combined with [Tf 2 N] − ([BMIM] + ). • We identify the anions/cations that enhance and minimize the thermal lens effect. • We provide absorption coefficients and, when possible, thermal conductivities. • We calculate, when possible, the thermo-optic coefficients.

Comparative analysis in the frequency domain of the resonant interaction between an ultrashort pulse train and a two-level system

We investigate the problem of two-level atoms driven by an ultrashort pulse train in the frequency domain. At low intensity regime, we obtain a perturbative analytical solution that allows us to discuss the role of the mode number of the frequency comb near or at resonance in the temporal evolution of the atomic coherence. At high intensities, the effect of the number of modes is analyzed on the steady-state regime through numerical calculations.

Observation of Time-Domain Modulation of Free-Electron-Laser Pulses by Multipeaked Electron-Energy Spectrum

We present the experimental demonstration of a new scheme for the generation of ultrashort pulse trains based on free-electron-laser (FEL) emission from a multipeaked electron energy distribution. Two electron beamlets with energy difference larger than the FEL parameter ρ have been generated by illuminating the cathode with two ps-spaced laser pulses, followed by a rotation of the longitudinal phase space by velocity bunching in the linac. The resulting self-amplified spontaneous emission FEL radiation, measured through frequency-resolved optical gating diagnostics, reveals a double-peaked spectrum and a temporally modulated pulse structure.

Rapid-scan acousto-optical delay line with 34 kHz scan rate and 15 as precision

An optical fast scan delay exploiting the near-collinear interaction between a train of ultrashort optical pulses and an acoustic wave propagating in a birefringent crystal is introduced. In combination with a femtosecond Er:fiber laser, the scheme is shown to delay few femtosecond pulses by up to 6 ps with a precision of 15 as. A resolution of 5 fs is obtained for a single sweep at a repetition rate of 34 kHz. This value can be improved to 39 as for multiple scans at a total rate of 0.3 kHz.

Decoherence, relaxation, and chaos in a kicked-spin ensemble

We study the dynamics of a quantum spin ensemble controlled by trains of ultrashort pulses. To model disturbances of the kicks, we consider that the spins are submitted to different kick trains which follow regular, random, stochastic, or chaotic dynamical processes. These are described by dynamical systems on a torus. We study the quantum decoherence and the population relaxation of the spin ensemble induced by these classical dynamical processes disturbing the kick trains. For chaotic kick trains we show that the decoherence and the relaxation processes exhibit a signature of chaos directly related to the Lyapunov exponents of the dynamical system. This signature is a horizon of coherence, i.e., a preliminary duration without decoherence followed by a rapid decoherence process.

Analysis of shot noise in the detection of ultrashort optical pulse trains

We present a frequency domain model of shot noise in the photodetection of ultrashort optical pulse trains using a time-varying analysis. Shot-noise-limited photocurrent power spectral densities, signal-to-noise expressions, and shot-noise spectral correlations are derived that explicitly include the finite response of the photodetector. It is shown that the strength of the spectral correlations in the shot noise depends on the optical pulsewidth, and that these correlations can create orders-of-magnitude imbalance between the shot-noise-limited amplitude and phase noise of photonically generated microwave carriers. It is also shown that only by accounting for spectral correlations can shot noise be equated with the fundamental quantum limit in the detection of optical pulse-to-pulse timing jitter.

Pulse-shape instabilities and their measurement

Multi-shot pulse-shape measurements of trains of ultrashort pulses with unstable pulse shapes are studied. Measurement techniques considered include spectral-phase interferometry for direct electric-field reconstruction (SPIDER), second harmonic generation frequency-resolved optical gating (FROG), polarization gate FROG, and cross-correlation FROG. An analytical calculation and simulations show that SPIDER cannot see unstable pulse-shape components and only measures the coherent artifact. Further, the presence of this instability cannot be distinguished from benign misalignment effects in SPIDER. FROG methods yield a better, although necessarily rough, estimate of the pulse shape and also indicate instability by exhibiting disagreement between measured and retrieved traces. Only good agreement between measured and retrieved FROG traces or 100% SPIDER fringe visibility guarantees a stable pulse train.