Huseyin Cankaya

Kerr-lens mode-locked femtosecond Cr(2+):ZnSe laser at 2420 nm.

We describe a cw Kerr-lens mode-locked Cr(2+):ZnSe laser pumped by a 1800 nm thulium fiber laser. The astigmatically compensated asymmetric x cavity contained a 2.4-mm-long Cr(2+):ZnSe sample with a pump absorption coefficient of 11.6 cm(-1) and was operated with a 1% output coupler. The dispersion compensation was achieved by using a MgF(2) prism pair. During Kerr-lens mode-locked operation, we could generate 95 fs pulses at a pulse repetition rate of 94.3 MHz and with 40 mW of output power. The center wavelength of the pulses was 2420 nm. The pulses had a spectral width of 69 nm and a time-bandwidth product of 0.335, which is close to the transform limit for hyperbolic secant pulses.

Cryogenic Yb:YAG composite-thin-disk for high energy and average power amplifiers

A cryogenic composite-thin-disk amplifier with amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) rejection is implemented that overcomes traditional laser system problems in high-energy pulsed laser drivers of high average power. A small signal gain of 8 dB was compared to a 1.5 dB gain for an uncapped thin-disk without ASE mitigation under identical pumping conditions. A strict image relayed 12-pass architecture using an off-axis vacuum telescope and polarization switching extracted 100 mJ at 250 Hz in high beam quality stretched 700 ps pulses of 0.6-nm bandwidth.

AXSIS: Exploring the frontiers in attosecond X-ray science, imaging and spectroscopy

X-ray crystallography is one of the main methods to determine atomic-resolution 3D images of the whole spectrum of molecules ranging from small inorganic clusters to large protein complexes consisting of hundred-thousands of atoms that constitute the macromolecular machinery of life. Life is not static, and unravelling the structure and dynamics of the most important reactions in chemistry and biology is essential to uncover their mechanism. Many of these reactions, including photosynthesis which drives our biosphere, are light induced and occur on ultrafast timescales. These have been studied with high time resolution primarily by optical spectroscopy, enabled by ultrafast laser technology, but they reduce the vast complexity of the process to a few reaction coordinates. In the AXSIS project at CFEL in Hamburg, funded by the European Research Council, we develop the new method of attosecond serial X-ray crystallography and spectroscopy, to give a full description of ultrafast processes atomically resolved in real space and on the electronic energy landscape, from co-measurement of X-ray and optical spectra, and X-ray diffraction. This technique will revolutionize our understanding of structure and function at the atomic and molecular level and thereby unravel fundamental processes in chemistry and biology like energy conversion processes. For that purpose, we develop a compact, fully coherent, THz-driven atto-second X-ray source based on coherent inverse Compton scattering off a free-electron crystal, to outrun radiation damage effects due to the necessary high X-ray irradiance required to acquire diffraction signals. This highly synergistic project starts from a completely clean slate rather than conforming to the specifications of a large free-electron laser (FEL) user facility, to optimize the entire instrumentation towards fundamental measurements of the mechanism of light absorption and excitation energy transfer. A multidisciplinary team formed by laser-, accelerator,- X-ray scientists as well as spectroscopists and biochemists optimizes X-ray pulse parameters, in tandem with sample delivery, crystal size, and advanced X-ray detectors. Ultimately, the new capability, attosecond serial X-ray crystallography and spectroscopy, will be applied to one of the most important problems in structural biology, which is to elucidate the dynamics of light reactions, electron transfer and protein structure in photosynthesis.

Overcoming bifurcation instability in high-repetition-rate Ho:YLF regenerative amplifiers

We demonstrate a Ho:YLF regenerative amplifier (RA) overcoming bifurcation instability and consequently achieving high extraction energies of 6.9 mJ at a repetition rate of 1 kHz with pulse-to-pulse fluctuations of 1.1%. Measurements of the output pulse energy, corroborated by numerical simulations, identify an operation point (OP) that allows high-energy pulse extraction at a minimum noise level. Complete suppression of the onset of bifurcation was achieved by gain saturation after each pumping cycle in the Ho:YLF crystal via lowering the repetition rate and cooling the crystal. Even for moderate cooling, a significant temperature dependence of the Ho:YLF RA performance was observed.

White-light generation with sub-ps pulses

We generate white light supercontinuum from slightly sub-picosecond pulses at 1.03 µm and 515 nm. We compare the spectra and stability for various crystals, focusing conditions and pulse durations, and determine the best parameters for sub-picosecond driver pulse duration. Comparing the experimental observations with the theory of white-light generation from Brodeur and Chin, it appears that in this particular range of pump pulse duration, two mechanisms interact and prevent a catastrophic collapse of the beam: multi-photon excitation (typical for ~100-fs-long pulses) and avalanche ionization (typical for >1-ps pulses). The two processes both manifest themselves in different experimental observations.

High-energy kHz Yb:KYW dual-crystal regenerative amplifier

A highly stable Yb:KYW based dual crystal regenerative amplifier is demonstrated, which generates at 1 kHz 6.5-mJ pulses before and up to 4.7-mJ sub-ps pulses after compression with multilayer-dielectric gratings, respectively. The stretcher is compact and based on chirped-fiber Bragg gratings. In continuous-wave operation, 20 W are extracted with a slope efficiency of 40%. The experimental data are in agreement with detailed simulations of the laser dynamics.

Large spectral tuning of liquid microdroplets standing on a superhydrophobic surface using optical scattering force

We demonstrate large spectral tuning of glycerol/water microdroplets standing on a superhydrophobic surface using the optical scattering force exerted by a 1064nm Nd3+:YVO4 solid-state laser. Spectral tuning up to 30nm is presented in the whispering gallery modes as a result of the deformation of the microdroplets toward a truncated prolate spheroid geometry. Observed large spectral tuning is also reported to be highly reversible. This demonstration can inspire novel, largely tunable optical switches or filters based on liquid microdroplets kept in a sealed chamber.

Terahertz-driven, all-optical electron gun

Ultrashort electron beams with narrow energy spread, high charge, and low jitter are essential for resolving phase transitions in metals, semiconductors, and molecular crystals. These semirelativistic beams, produced by phototriggered electron guns, are also injected into accelerators for x-ray light sources. The achievable resolution of these time-resolved electron diffraction or x-ray experiments has been hindered by surface field and timing jitter limitations in conventional RF guns, which thus far are 96 fs, respectively. A gun driven by optically-generated single-cycle THz pulses provides a practical solution to enable not only GV/m surface fields but also absolute timing stability, since the pulses are generated by the same laser as the phototrigger. Here, we demonstrate an all-optical THz gun yielding peak electron energies approaching 1 keV, accelerated by 300 MV/m THz fields in a novel micron-scale waveguide structure. We also achieve quasimonoenergetic, sub-keV bunches with 32 fC of charge, which can already be used for time-resolved low-energy electron diffraction. Such ultracompact, easy to implement guns driven by intrinsically synchronized THz pulses that are pumped by an amplified arm of the already present photoinjector laser provide a new tool with potential to transform accelerator based science.

Highly efficient broadband sum-frequency generation in the visible wavelength range

We report on efficient broadband sum-frequency generation, converting a 140 THz near-infrared bandwidth to the visible regime with photon conversion efficiency greater than 90%. Using a 20-mm-long aperiodically adiabatively poled KTP crystal, the spectral range 660-990 nm was converted to 405-500 nm using a strong pump wave at 1030 nm. The photon conversion efficiency was confirmed to be 92±0.5% when pumped with an intensity of 0.94  GW/cm2. Our experimental results agreed very well with analytic predictions and numerical simulations.

Intracavity gain shaping in millijoule-level, high gain Ho:YLF regenerative amplifiers

We demonstrate intracavity gain shaping inside a 2 μm Ho:YLF regenerative amplifier with a spectral bandwidth of 2.9 nm broadened to 5.4 nm, corresponding to Fourier-limited pulses of 1 ps duration. The intracavity gain shaping is achieved by using a simple etalon, which acts as a frequency-selective filter. The output of the regenerative amplifier is amplified by a single-pass amplifier, and we achieve total energy of 2.2 mJ and pulse duration of 2.4 ps at 1 kHz with pulse fluctuations <1%. The amplifier chain is seeded by a home-built mode-locked holmium-doped fiber oscillator.