Multi-octave spanning, Watt-level ultrafast mid-infrared source

Butler, Thomas P.; Lilienfein, Nikolai; Xu, J. J.; Nagl, Nathalie; Höfer, Christina; Gerz, Daniel; Mak, Kafai; Gaida, Christian; Heuermann, Tobias; Gebhardt, Martin; Limpert, Jens; Krausz, Ferenc; Pupeza, Ioachim

doi:10.1088/2515-7647/ab4976

Cited by 25 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 58 publications

(74 reference statements)

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“…In the fingerprint region from 1000 to 3000 cm –1 , the measurement performance can be kept within 33% of the peak performance at all wavenumbers by choosing a sample thickness around 25 μm. Rapid advances of femtosecond technology hold promise for the extension of FRS to the coverage of the entire molecular fingerprint region in the near future. , At the same time, further improvement of the sensitivity of electro-optic sampling will push the limit of detection to the low nanogram/milliliter range or below …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optimum Sample Thickness for Trace Analyte Detection with Field-Resolved Infrared Spectroscopy

et al. 2020

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The strong absorption of liquid water in the infrared (IR) molecular fingerprint region constitutes a challenge for applications of vibrational spectroscopy in chemistry, biology, and medicine. While high-power IR laser sources enable the penetration of ever thicker aqueous samples, thereby mitigating the detrimental effects of strong attenuation on detection sensitivity, a basic advantage of heterodyne-measurement-based methods hasto the best of our knowledgenot been harnessed in broadband IR measurements to date. Here, employing field-resolved spectroscopy (FRS), we demonstrate in theory and experiment fundamental advantages of techniques whose signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) scales linearly with the electric field over those whose SNR scales linearly with radiation intensity, including conventional Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) and direct absorption spectroscopy. Field-scaling brings about two major improvements. First, it squares the measurement dynamic range. Second, we show that the optimum interaction length with samples for SNR-maximized measurements is twice the value usually considered to be optimum for FTIR devices. In order to take full advantage of these properties, the measurement must not be significantly affected by technical noise, such as intensity fluctuations, which are common for high-power sources. Recently, it has been shown that subcycle, nonlinear gating of the molecular fingerprint signal renders FRS robust against intensity noise. Here, we quantitatively demonstrate this advantage of FRS for thick aqueous samples. We report sub-μg/mL detection sensitivities for transmission path lengths up to 80 μm and a limit of detection in the lower μg/mL range for transmission paths as long as 200 μm.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Optimum Sample Thickness for Trace Analyte Detection with Field-Resolved Infrared Spectroscopy

et al. 2020

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“…Recently, the generation of octave (and beyond) spanning spectra and CEP stabilized femtosecond pulses at long wavelengths towards the mid-IR spectral range has become a very active field driven by a wide variety of applications, at both low repetition rate for high energy pulses [20,[26][27][28] and high repetition rate for high average power [29][30][31][32]. For example, such high energy mid-infrared (IR) pulses are promising to extend the generation of attosecond pulses towards the soft X-rays through HHG in gas [33][34][35]; to provide new tools for studying condensed matter physics such as HHG in solids [36,37] and for the sub-cycle control of electronic dynamics in low bandgap materials [38]; as well as to perform photoelectron streaking with a combined large temporal window and a high temporal resolution [39].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterizing the carrier-envelope phase stability of mid-infrared laser pulses by high harmonic generation in solids

Leblanc¹,

Lassonde²,

Dalla-Barba³

et al. 2020

Opt. Express

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We present a novel approach for measuring the carrier-envelope phase (CEP) stability of a laser source by employing the process of high harmonic generation (HHG) in solids. HHG in solids driven by few-cycle pulses is very sensitive to the waveform of the driving pulse, therefore enabling to track the shot-to-shot CEP fluctuations of a laser source. This strategy is particularly practical for pulses at long central wavelength up to the mid-infrared spectral range where usual techniques used in the visible or near-infrared regions are challenging to transpose. We experimentally demonstrate this novel tool by measuring the CEP fluctuations of a mid-infrared laser source centered at 9.5 m.

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“…Compact, coherent and broad bandwidth laser frequency comb sources in the mid-infrared (MIR) region (3 µm to 25 µm) are an essential component for molecular spectroscopy, environmental monitoring and other applications [1][2][3]. While a few frequency comb lasers directly emit in the MIR [4][5][6][7], nonlinear frequency conversion from the near-infrared is a general and reliable way to coherently convert mature near-infrared frequency comb sources to MIR wavelengths [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16]. Among different pump lasers for nonlinear conversion, the 2 µm band with Tm-doped silica fiber holds some unique advantages.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The amplifier output power from 145 to 330 mW corresponds to 1.7W to 1.94 W pump power. Empirically [10,[29][30][31], a structured central region of the spectrum with smooth wings covering about one octave is a general indication of successful self-compression. A more detailed study of pulse quality, duration and temporal distribution requires use of generalized nonlinear Schrodinger equation (GNLSE) with the inclusion of Raman and shock terms.…”

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confidence: 99%

All-fiber frequency comb at 2 µm providing 1.4-cycle pulses

et al. 2020

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We report an all-polarization-maintaining fiber optic approach to generating sub-2 cycle pulses at 2 m and a corresponding octave-spanning optical frequency comb. Our configuration leverages mature Er:fiber laser technology at 1.5 m to provide a seed pulse for a thuliumdoped fiber amplifier that outputs 330 mW average power at 100 MHz repetition rate. Following amplification, nonlinear self-compression in fiber decreases the pulse duration to 9.5 fs, or 1.4 optical cycles. Approximately 32 % of the energy sits within the pulse peak, and the polarization extinction ratio is more than 15 dB. The spectrum of the ultrashort pulse spans from 1 m to beyond 2.4 m and enables direct measurement of the carrier-envelope offset frequency using only 12 mW, or ~3.5 % of the total power. Our approach employs only commercially-available fiber components, resulting in a turnkey amplifier design that is compact, and easy to reproduce in the larger community. Moreover, the overall design and self-compression mechanism are scalable in repetition rate and power. As such, this system should be useful as a robust frequency comb source in the nearinfrared or as a pump source to generate mid-infrared frequency combs.

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Multi-octave spanning, Watt-level ultrafast mid-infrared source

Cited by 25 publications

References 58 publications

Optimum Sample Thickness for Trace Analyte Detection with Field-Resolved Infrared Spectroscopy

Optimum Sample Thickness for Trace Analyte Detection with Field-Resolved Infrared Spectroscopy

Characterizing the carrier-envelope phase stability of mid-infrared laser pulses by high harmonic generation in solids

All-fiber frequency comb at 2 µm providing 1.4-cycle pulses

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