Felix Köttig

Generation of microjoule pulses in the deep ultraviolet at megahertz repetition rates

Although ultraviolet (UV) light is important in many areas of science and technology, there are very few if any lasers capable of delivering wavelength-tunable ultrashort UV pulses at MHz repetition rates. Here we report the generation of deep-UV laser pulses at MHz repetition rates and \mu J-energies by means of dispersive wave (DW) emission from self-compressed solitons in gas-filled single-ring hollow-core photonic crystal fiber (SR-PCF). Pulses from an ytterbium fiber laser (~300 fs) are first compressed to ~25 fs in a SR-PCF-based nonlinear compression stage, and subsequently used to pump a second SR-PCF stage for broadband DW generation in the deep UV. The UV wavelength is tunable by selecting the gas species and the pressure. At 100 kHz repetition rate, a pulse energy of 1.05 \mu J was obtained at 205 nm (average power 0.1 W), and at 1.92 MHz, a pulse energy of 0.54 \mu J was obtained at 275 nm (average power 1.03 W).

Broadband electric-field-induced LP 01 and LP 02 second harmonic generation in Xe-filled hollow-core PCF.

Second harmonic (SH) generation with 300 fs pump pulses is reported in a xenon-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fiber (PCF) across which an external bias voltage is applied. Phase-matched intermodal conversion from a pump light in the LP01 mode to SH light in the LP02 mode is achieved at a particular gas pressure. Using periodic electrodes, quasi-phase-matched SH generation into the low-loss LP01 mode is achieved at a different pressure. The low linear dispersion of the gas enables phase-matching over a broad spectral window, resulting in a measured bandwidth of ∼10  nm at high pump energies. A conversion efficiency of ∼18%/mJ is obtained. Gas-filled anti-resonant-reflecting hollow-core PCF uniquely offers pressure-tunable phase-matching, ultra-broadband guidance, and a very high optical damage threshold, which hold great promise for efficient three-wave mixing, especially in difficult-to-access regions of the electromagnetic spectrum.

Self-focusing below the critical power in gas-filled hollow-core PCF

Nonlinear optics in fibres has for decades been carried out predominantly in step-index glass cores that support just one transverse mode, or if the core supports higher-order modes (HOMs), careful launch alignment is used to minimize their excitation in practice. In gas-filled hollow-core fibres, however, single-mode propagation ceases to be valid at high intensities, even under perfect launch conditions. This is because self-focusing can be understood as being caused by transfer of energy from the fundamental mode to HOMs through nonlinear mode coupling [1, 2].

Extremely broadband single-shot cross-correlation frequency-resolved optical gating using a transient grating as gate and dispersive element.

A cross-correlation frequency-resolved optical gating (FROG) concept, potentially suitable for characterizing few or sub-cycle pulses in a single shot, is described in which a counter-propagating transient grating is used as both the gate and the dispersive element in a FROG spectrometer. An all-reflective setup, which can operate over the whole transmission range of the nonlinear medium, within the sensitivity range of the matrix sensor, is also proposed, and proof-of-principle experiments for the ultraviolet and visible-to-near-infrared spectral ranges are reported.

Mid-infrared dispersive wave generation in gas-filled photonic crystal fibre by transient ionization-driven changes in dispersion

Gas-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fibre is being used to generate ever wider supercontinuum spectra, in particular via dispersive wave emission in the deep and vacuum ultraviolet, with a multitude of applications. Dispersive waves are the result of nonlinear transfer of energy from a self-compressed soliton, a process that relies crucially on phase-matching. It was recently predicted that, in the strong-field regime, the additional transient anomalous dispersion introduced by gas ionization would allow phase-matched dispersive wave generation in the mid-infrared—something that is forbidden in the absence of free electrons. Here we report the experimental observation of such mid-infrared dispersive waves, embedded in a 4.7-octave-wide supercontinuum that uniquely reaches simultaneously to the vacuum ultraviolet, with up to 1.7 W of total average power.Dispersive wave emission in gas-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fibres has been possible in the visible and ultraviolet via the optical Kerr effect. Here, Köttig et al. demonstrate dispersive waves generated by an additional transient anomalous dispersion from gas ionization in the mid-infrared.

PHz-wide spectral interference through plasma-induced fission of higher order solitons

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 gas-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fiber are supported by rigorous numerical simulations. In the anomalous dispersion regime, 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.