Juyun Park

Generation of 1.5 cycle 0.3 TW laser pulses using a hollow-fiber pulse compressor

Pulse compression in a differentially pumped neon-filled hollow fiber was used to generate high-power few-cycle laser pulses. The pulse compression process was optimized by adjusting gas pressure and laser chirp to produce the shortest laser pulses. Precise dispersion control enabled the generation of laser pulses with duration of 3.7 fs and energy of 1.2 mJ. This corresponds to an output of 1.5 cycle, 0.3 TW pulses at a 1 kHz repetition rate using positively chirped 33 fs laser pulses.

Laser chirp effect on femtosecond laser filamentation generated for pulse compression.

The influence of laser chirp on the formation of femtosecond laser filamentation in Ar was investigated for the generation of few-cycle high-power laser pulses. The condition for the formation of a single filament has been carefully examined using 28-fs laser pulses with energy over 3 mJ. The filament formation and output spectrum changed very sensitively to the initial laser chirp and gas pressure. Much larger spectral broadening was obtained with positively chirped pulses, compared to the case of negatively chirped pulses that generated much longer filament, and compressed pulses of 5.5 fs with energy of 0.5 mJ were obtained from the filamentation of positively chirped 30-fs laser pulses in a single Ar cell.

Novel Heat Dissipating Cell Scheme for Improving a Reset Distribution in a 512M Phase-change Random Access Memory (PRAM)

Programming with larger current than optimized one is often preferable to ensure a good resistance distribution of high-resistive reset state in high-density phase-change random access memories because it is very effective to increase the resistance of cells to a target value. In this paper, we firstly report that this larger current writing may conversely degrade the reset distribution by reducing the resistance of normal cells via the partial crystallization of amorphous Ge2Sb2Te5 and this degradation can be suppressed by designing a novel cell structure with a heat dissipating layer.

Attosecond chirp compensation over broadband high-order harmonics to generate near transform-limited 63 as pulses

By generating broadband high-harmonic pulses from neon and compensating for attosecond chirp by the material dispersion of argon, the generation of near transform-limited 63 as pulses was achieved. The spectral phase analysis showed that, without proper compensation, the attosecond chirp of the broadband harmonics caused splitting of attosecond high-harmonic pulses in addition to pulse broadening. Although it was attained only within a limited spectral range, the attosecond chirp compensation was successful in bringing out pulse compression over broad harmonics, which signifies the effectiveness of the attosecond chirp compensation by material dispersion.

Complete temporal reconstruction of attosecond high-harmonic pulse trains

The method of complete reconstruction of attosecond bursts has been demonstrated for attosecond high-harmonic pulse trains. The retrieved harmonic field provided detailed information about the envelope and the individual attosecond pulses contained in the attosecond pulse train. The time–frequency analysis revealed complicated spectral chirp structures and the contribution of different quantum paths to attosecond pulse formation.

One-Wave Optical Phase Conjugation Mirror by Actively Coupling Arbitrary Light Fields into a Single-Mode Reflector

Rewinding the arrow of time via phase conjugation is an intriguing phenomenon made possible by the wave property of light. Here, we demonstrate the realization of a one-wave optical phase conjugation mirror using a spatial light modulator. An adaptable single-mode filter is created, and a phase-conjugate beam is then prepared by reverse propagation through this filter. Our method is simple, alignment free, and fast while allowing high power throughput in the time-reversed wave, which has not been simultaneously demonstrated before. Using our method, we demonstrate high throughput full-field light delivery through highly scattering biological tissue and multimode fibers, even for quantum dot fluorescence.

Long-term carrier-envelope-phase stabilization of a femtosecond laser by the direct locking method

We have developed a practical solution to implement the direct locking method for the carrier-envelope phase (CEP) stabilization of femtosecond laser pulses and achieved 24-hour CEP stabilization without realignment of any optical components. The direct locking method realizes the CEP stabilization in the time domain by directly quenching the beat signal from an f-to-2f interferometer and, thereby, locking every pulse to a same CEP. We have accomplished the long-term CEP stabilization using commercially available standard feedback electronics, and maintained the CEP stabilization with low jitter without using any frequency-analyzing components, greatly facilitating the accessibility of the CEP stabilization.

Soft x-ray microscope constructed with a PMMA phase-reversal zone plate

A soft x-ray microscope based on a phase-reversal zone plate was constructed and tested using high harmonic radiation as a coherent light source. The 61st harmonic centered at 13.3 nm was optimized in spectral sharpness and intensity by controlling the incident laser energy and chirp. A phase-reversal zone plate made of polymethyl methacrylate more than doubled the first-order efficiency. The nano patterns, imaged on an x-ray CCD with a magnification of 650, showed that the measured resolution of the microscope was better than 100 nm.

Soft X-ray Microscope Constructed with 130-nm Spatial Resolution Using a High Harmonic X-ray Source

Using high harmonic radiation as an X-ray light source, a soft X-ray microscope with nanometer-scale spatial resolution was investigated. A transmission soft X-ray microscope was constructed using a Mo/Si multilayer concave mirror as a condenser and a Fresnel zone plate as a microscope objective. The high-order harmonic source at 13 nm, emitted from neon atoms driven by intense femtosecond laser pulses, was optimized by controlling laser chirp. Objects, patterned on 160-nm-thick hydrogen silsesquioxane coated on a 100-nm-thick Si3N4 membrane, were used for imaging. The analysis of object images, captured on an X-ray charge-coupled device, showed that the spatial resolution of the microscope was about 130 nm, verifying the usefulness of the tabletop soft X-ray source.

Table-top soft x-ray microscope adopting a PMMA phase-reversal zone plate

A table-top soft x-ray microscope, adopting a phase-reversal zone plate (PRZP) made of PMMA and high harmonic x-ray source, was constructed. The PMMA PRZP showed enhanced imaging efficiency compared to a metallic Fresnel zone plate.