Tunable, few-cycle, CEP-stable mid-IR optical parametric amplifier for strong field applications

Abstract

We present a robust, three-stage optical parametric amplifier driven by a Ti:Sapphire ultrafast laser system that implements passive carrier-envelope phase stabilization and directly generates five-cycle mid-IR pulses by dispersion compensation. The source is based on potassium titanyl arsenate crystals and exploits intra-pulse difference-frequency seed generation in the mid-IR. This source will be particularly suited for applications in strong-field physics, such as high order harmonic generation and photoelectron spectroscopy.

Terahertz spin dynamics in rare-earth orthoferrites

“…Another novel scheme to note is carrier–envelope-phase stable difference-frequency generation and optical parametric amplification technology [162] , which generates phase-locked multi-THz (10–30 THz) radiation with strong intensity [163–166] . The same technique is now being expanded to the mid-IR frequency range [167,168] , dramatically enhancing the capability of quantum control of the lattice sector of quantum materials.…”

Time Domain Spectroscopy of Methane Excited by Resonant High-Energy Mid-IR Pulses

“…In our experiment, the FID of methane was driven by the high energy mid-IR KTA-based OPA source presented in a previous paper [25], pumped by a commercial 800 nm chirped-pulse amplified Ti:Sapphire laser system at 1 kHz repetition rate (Amplitude, Aurora). The output pulses from the OPA are tunable between 2.4 and 3.9 µm, with a maximum energy content of 300 µJ and a minimum duration of 60 fs after dispersion compensation (five optical cycles at 3.4 µm).…”

“…Recently, thanks to technological advances, high-energy ultrafast sources in the mid-IR (3-10 µm) based on optical parametric amplification (OPA) or optical parametric chirped pulse amplification have become available [23][24][25][26]. These sources grant the opportunity to explore the excitation of molecular vibrations with unprecedented field strength.…”

High Harmonic Generation from Oriented Asymmetric Molecules in the Presence of Static Electric Field

“…This paper is devoted to investigating the HHG during the interaction of the femtosecond laser field with oriented asymmetric diatomic molecules in the presence of an external static electric field. The relevance of these studies is associated with the development of powerful sources of pulsed low-frequency terahertz (THz) and mid-infrared (mid-IR) radiation, capable to influence the HHG by infrared laser pulses [4][5][6][7][8]. Our numerical study is based on the solution of the three-dimensional time-dependent Schrödinger equation (3D TDSE) for the model oneelectron system, whose parameters are adjusted to simulate a carbon monoxide (CO) molecule.…”