Tunable vacuum-UV to visible ultrafast pulse source based on gas-filled Kagome-PCF

Mak, Ka Fai; Travers, John C.; Hölzer, P; Joly, Nicolas Y.; Russell, P. St. J.

doi:10.1364/oe.21.010942

Cited by 159 publications

(138 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…It plays an essential role in fiber supercontiuum generation [1,2]. New spectral components on either the short-wavelength side or the long-wavelength side of the pump wavelength are possible by this technique with proper fiber dispersion control [3][4][5][6][7][8]. The normally small core size of the fiber, however, limits the propagating pulse energy; especially when generating DW in the long-wavelength side of the pump and multiple zero-dispersion wavelengths (ZDWs) are needed.…”

Section: Ocis Codesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dispersive waves induced by self-defocusing temporal solitons in a beta-barium-borate crystal

Zhou

Bache

2015

Opt. Lett.

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We experimentally observe long-wavelength dispersive waves generation in a BBO crystal. A soliton was formed in normal GVD regime of the crystal by a self-defocusing and negative nonlinearity through phase-mismatched quatradic interaction. Strong temporal pulse compression confirmed the formation of soliton during the pulse propagation inside the crystal. Significant dispersive wave radiation was measured in the anomalous GVD regime of the BBO crystal. With the pump wavelengths from 1.24 to 1.4 µm, tunable dispersive waves are generated around 1.9 to 2.2 µm. The observed dispersive wave generation is well understood by simulations. OCIS codes:(320. Fiber-based dispersive wave (DW) induced by solitons has been intensively investigated. It plays an essential role in fiber supercontiuum generation [1,2]. New spectral components on either the short-wavelength side or the long-wavelength side of the pump wavelength are possible by this technique with proper fiber dispersion control [3][4][5][6][7][8]. The normally small core size of the fiber, however, limits the propagating pulse energy; especially when generating DW in the long-wavelength side of the pump and multiple zero-dispersion wavelengths (ZDWs) are needed. The direct use of bulk nonlinear materials is promising for high pump energy. Most bulk nonlinear materials have normal group velocity dispersion (GVD) in the near-infrared (NIR) pump wavelength; therefore, when a conventional Kerr (self-focusing and positive) nonlinearity is employed, the study of DW generation easily falls into another dilemma: filamentation likely kicks in. Which complicates the whole process, and greatly impedes its application [9][10][11].A negative (self-defocusing) nonlinearity, e.g. the one available from a phase-mismatched quadratic process, could open a new window for DW research for the mostly used NIR pump wavelengths. The flipped sign of nonlinearity means that instead of filamentations, the generation of soliton is possible in the normal GVD regime of the bulk material in the NIR; which will then be able to stimulate efficient DW emission in the anomalous GVD regime (longer wavelength) of the crystal. Furthermore, much higher pulse energy could be supported due to * moba@fotonik.dtu.dk the absence of filamentation. The excitation and utilization of NIR soliton in the normal GVD regime by the phase-mismatched quadratic process have been reported in various nonlinear crystals [12][13][14][15][16]; especially in the most frequently used BBO crystal, by which soliton compression down to few optical cycle has been realized [14]. However, despite the success of exciting selfdefocusing temporal soliton in the BBO crystal, and the numerical prediction of the existence of such a DW emission [17], the formation of DW emission in the anomalous GVD regime of this crystal has so far never been observed experimentally. It was only recently observed directly for the first time in cascaded nonlinear media [18]: The strong few-cycle near-IR self-defocusing soliton self-compression observed i...

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Section: Ocis Codesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dispersive waves induced by self-defocusing temporal solitons in a beta-barium-borate crystal

Zhou

Bache

2015

Opt. Lett.

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“…Here we investigate high-intensity ultrashort solitons of intermediate order, and demonstrate novel coherent plasma-induced fission, leading to pulse splitting and the production of robust pulse pairs of PHz bandwidth that co-propagate phase-locked over cm-long distances. We furthermore show that the regimes of soliton-based pulse compression [11][12][13], supercontinuum generation [14,15], dispersive wave (DW) emission [16,17], soliton blue-shifting and plasma-induced fission can be accessed in a single system, simply by changing the input pulse energy. The findings are of great practical interest as hollow-core PCF-based pulse manipulation schemes evolve into a highly-demanded asset in modern high-repetition rate laser systems [18,19].…”

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confidence: 99%

PHz-Wide Spectral Interference Through Coherent Plasma-Induced Fission of Higher-Order Solitons

et al. 2017

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We identify a novel regime of soliton-plasma interactions in which high-intensity ultrashort pulses of intermediate soliton order undergo coherent plasma-induced fission. Experimental results obtained in gasfilled hollow-core photonic crystal fibers are supported by rigorous numerical simulations. The cumulative blueshift of higher-order input solitons with ionizing intensities results in pulse splitting before the ultimate self-compression point, leading to the generation of robust pulse pairs with PHz bandwidths. The novel dynamics closes the gap between plasma-induced adiabatic soliton compression and modulational instability.PACS numbers: 42.81. Dp, 42.65.Re, 32.80.Fb The interaction of ultrashort laser pulses with photoinduced plasmas has been the subject of intense research, and its understanding is of fundamental importance in many different fields, for example optical filamentation [1] and attosecond physics [2]. The field has been mostly studied in free space [3] and fiber capillaries [4]. In both these cases, however, spurious spatial effects complicate the dynamics and control over the propagation of the laser pulses is limited. Over the past few years, gas-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fiber [5] (PCF) has matured as an ideal platform for studying the interaction of laser light with matter. The tight confinement of high-intensity femtosecond pulses in a single spatial mode with precisely controllable anomalous dispersion allows established soliton dynamics to be extended into the strong-field regime [6], opening up unique possibilities. For the first time, it has been possible to study how optical solitons interact with plasmas over long pathlengths and broad frequency ranges in a well-controlled environment, as well as effects such as plasma-induced blue-shifting [7,8], adiabatic soliton compression [9] and modulational instability (MI) [10].In previous work, soliton-plasma interactions were mainly studied in the regimes of low and very high soliton order. Here we investigate high-intensity ultrashort solitons of intermediate order, and demonstrate novel coherent plasma-induced fission, leading to pulse splitting and the production of robust pulse pairs of PHz bandwidth that co-propagate phase-locked over cm-long distances. We furthermore show that the regimes of soliton-based pulse compression [11][12][13], supercontinuum generation [14,15], dispersive wave (DW) emission [16,17], soliton blue-shifting and plasma-induced fission can be accessed in a single system, simply by changing the input pulse energy. The findings are of great practical interest as hollow-core PCF-based pulse manipulation schemes evolve into a highly-demanded asset in modern high-repetition rate laser systems [18,19].In the experiment, an 8-cm-long kagomé-type PCF with 36 μm core diameter and 200 nm core wall thickness was placed in a gas-cell filled with 2 bar of Kr. It was pumped by 28-fs-long (full-width-half-maximum -FWHM) pulses at ~0.29 PHz (1.03 μm) with up to 13.2 μJ pulse energy at a repetition rate of 151 kHz....

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“…Kagomé-PCFs also offer very broad spectral transmission windows, and when gas-filled provide an ideal system for nonlinear generation of light at many different wavelengths. For example, when pumped at near infrared wavelengths, broadband DUV and vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) light has been generated in gasfilled kagomé-PCF [7,8].In this Letter, we discuss the first frequency-conversion scheme involving a H2-filled kagomé-PCF pumped at 266 nm. Taking advantage of the high Raman gain of H2 in the ultraviolet (about 3 times larger than at 532 nm [9]), we generate a purely vibrational Raman comb extending from the VUV (184 nm) to the visible (478 nm) via stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) and molecular modulation [10][11][12][13].…”

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confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Generation of a vacuum ultraviolet to visible Raman frequency comb in H_2-filled kagomé photonic crystal fiber

et al. 2016

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We report the generation of a purely vibrational Raman comb, extending from the vacuum ultraviolet (184 nm) to the visible (478 nm), in hydrogen-filled kagomé-style photonic crystal fiber pumped at 266 nm. Stimulated Raman scattering and molecular modulation processes are enhanced by higher Raman gain in the ultraviolet. Owing to the pressure-tunable normal dispersion landscape of the "fiber + gas" system in the ultraviolet, higher-order anti-Stokes bands are generated preferentially in higher-order fiber modes. The results pave the way towards tunable fiber-based sources of deep-and vacuum ultraviolet light for applications in, e.g., spectroscopy and biomedicine.Fiber delivery and frequency conversion in the ultraviolet are topics of much current interest [1,2].Step-index fibers with pure silica cores have proven unsuitable because their performance dramatically falls over time due to colorcenter-related optical damage, unless they are hydrogen loaded [3]. Recent alternatives such as fluoride fibers [4] partially resolve this problem, extending the usable wavelength range into the deep ultraviolet (DUV). Kagomé-style hollow-core photonic crystal fiber (kagomé-PCF) is excellent alternative, offering a very low light-glass overlap [5]. It has been used for stable long-term transmission of continuous-wave 280 nm DUV light [6]. Kagomé-PCFs also offer very broad spectral transmission windows, and when gas-filled provide an ideal system for nonlinear generation of light at many different wavelengths. For example, when pumped at near infrared wavelengths, broadband DUV and vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) light has been generated in gasfilled kagomé-PCF [7,8].In this Letter, we discuss the first frequency-conversion scheme involving a H2-filled kagomé-PCF pumped at 266 nm. Taking advantage of the high Raman gain of H2 in the ultraviolet (about 3 times larger than at 532 nm [9]), we generate a purely vibrational Raman comb extending from the VUV (184 nm) to the visible (478 nm) via stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) and molecular modulation [10][11][12][13]. The short-wavelength bands extend further into the VUV than in previous experiments using H2-filled kagomé-PCF with narrow-band pump lasers [14,15]. Moreover, the narrow Raman gain bandwidth, together with a narrow-band pump, results in Raman sidebands with high spectral power density-a distinct advantage over broadband sources, when it is necessary to use filters (not always available in the DUV and VUV) to select spectral bands. The system demonstrated here is very compact compared to free-space arrangements [16] and its potential tunability using different Raman-active gases makes it ideal for applications such as high-resolution spectroscopy, metrology and biology.In SRS a relatively strong pump pulse scatters off the molecules in the medium giving rise to a lower energy Stokes signal. The beat note of the pump and Stokes signals excites a Raman-active mode of the molecule (in our system, the fundamental vibrational mode of H2 with ΩR/2π ~ 125 THz). This process is acco...

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Tunable vacuum-UV to visible ultrafast pulse source based on gas-filled Kagome-PCF

Cited by 159 publications

References 35 publications

Dispersive waves induced by self-defocusing temporal solitons in a beta-barium-borate crystal

Dispersive waves induced by self-defocusing temporal solitons in a beta-barium-borate crystal

PHz-Wide Spectral Interference Through Coherent Plasma-Induced Fission of Higher-Order Solitons

Generation of a vacuum ultraviolet to visible Raman frequency comb in H_2-filled kagomé photonic crystal fiber

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