Siva Rama Krishnan

Filamentation without intensity clamping.

We present measurements of the supercontinuum emission (SCE) from ultrashort Ti:Saph laser pulse filamentation in air in a tightly focused geometry. The spectral broadening of SCE indicates that peak intensities exceed the clamping value of a few 10(13) W/cm(2) obtained for filamentation in a loose focusing geometry by at least one order of magnitude. We provide an interpretation for this regime of filamenation without intensity clamping.

Optical diode action from axially asymmetric nonlinearity in an all-carbon solid-state device.

Nanostructured carbons are posited to offer an alternative to silicon and lead to further miniaturization of photonic and electronic devices. Here, we report the experimental realization of the first all-carbon solid-state optical diode that is based on axially asymmetric nonlinear absorption in a thin saturable absorber (graphene) and a thin reverse saturable absorber (C60) arranged in tandem. This all-optical diode action is polarization independent and has no phase-matching constraints. The nonreciprocity factor of the device can be tuned by varying the number of graphene layers and the concentration or thickness of the C60 coating. This ultracompact graphene/C60 based optical diode is versatile with an inherently large bandwidth, chemical and thermal stability, and is poised for cost-effective large-scale integration with existing fabrication technologies.

Extreme ultraviolet ionization of pure He nanodroplets: Mass-correlated photoelectron imaging, Penning ionization, and electron energy-loss spectra

The ionization dynamics of pure He nanodroplets irradiated by Extreme ultraviolet radiation is studied using Velocity-Map Imaging PhotoElectron-PhotoIon COincidence spectroscopy. We present photoelectron energy spectra and angular distributions measured in coincidence with the most abundant ions He(+), He2(+), and He3(+). Surprisingly, below the autoionization threshold of He droplets, we find indications for multiple excitation and subsequent ionization of the droplets by a Penning-like process. At high photon energies we observe inelastic collisions of photoelectrons with the surrounding He atoms in the droplets.

Charge Transfer and Penning Ionization of Dopants in or on Helium Nanodroplets Exposed to EUV Radiation

Helium nanodroplets are widely used as a cold, weakly interacting matrix for spectroscopy of embedded species. In this work, we excite or ionize doped He droplets using synchrotron radiation and study the effect onto the dopant atoms depending on their location inside the droplets (rare gases) or outside at the droplet surface (alkali metals). Using photoelectron-photoion coincidence imaging spectroscopy at variable photon energies (20-25 eV), we compare the rates of charge-transfer to Penning ionization of the dopants in the two cases. The surprising finding is that alkali metals, in contrast to the rare gases, are efficiently Penning ionized upon excitation of the (n = 2)-bands of the host droplets. This indicates rapid migration of the excitation to the droplet surface, followed by relaxation, and eventually energy transfer to the alkali dopants.Helium nanodroplets are widely used as a cold, weakly interacting matrix for spectroscopy of embedded species. In this work we excite or ionize doped He droplets using synchrotron radiation and study the effect onto the dopant atoms depending on their location inside the

Evolution of dopant-induced helium nanoplasmas

Two-component nanoplasmas generated by strong-field ionization of doped helium nanodroplets are studied in a pump–probe experiment using few-cycle laser pulses in combination with molecular dynamics simulations. High yields of helium ions and a pronounced resonance structure in the pump–probe transients which is droplet size dependent reveal the evolution of the dopant-induced helium nanoplasma with an active role for He shells in the ensuing dynamics. The pump–probe dynamics is interpreted in terms of strong inner ionization by the pump pulse and resonant heating by the probe pulse which controls the final charge states detected via the frustration of electron–ion recombination.

Supercontinuum emission from tightly focused femtosecond pulses in air: beyond intensity clamping

We present the evolution of supercontinuum emission (SCE) from tightly focused fs laser pulses propagating in air. 45 fs laser pulses at 806 nm, 10 Hz repetition rate, from Ti:Sapphire laser (Thales Laser, Alpha 10) with a nanosecond contrast ratio better than 10-6: 1 are focused in air by a lens to an f/12 focusing geometry in one case, and by an off-axis parabolic mirror leading to an f/6 focusing in another. The laser input power is varied in the range of 10 - 90 PCr and 6 - 60 PCr in the f/12 and f/6 focusing geometries, respectively, where the critical power for selffocusing in air is PCr = 3 GW for 806 nm. The effect of the tight focusing condition on the SCE spectrum and the dependence on the input laser polarization are studied. Within the input power range used in the study, the blue edge (the maximum positive frequency shift) of the SCE spectrum is found to decrease continuously when the laser energy is increased. This result is in contrast with previous measurements of SCE in condensed matter and gases with loose focusing geometry, for which a constant blue edge was interpreted as due to intensity clamping. We propose a model, which show that for tight focusing conditions, external focusing prevails over the optical Kerr effect annihilating plasma defocusing and self-focusing, thereby giving access to a new propagation regime featured by an efficient laser energy deposition in fully ionized air and intense 1015 W/cm2 pulses at the focus.

Fano resonances observed in helium nanodroplets

Doubly-excited Rydberg states of helium (He) nanodroplets have been studied using synchrotron radiation. We observed Fano resonances related to the atomic N = 2,0 series as a function of droplet size. Although similar qualitatively to their atomic counterparts, the resonance lines are broader and exhibit a shift in energy which increases for the higher excited states. Furthermore, additional resonances are observed which are not seen in atomic systems. We discuss these features in terms of delocalized atomic states perturbed by the surrounding He atoms and compare to singly excited droplets.

Ignition of Doped Helium Nanodroplets in Intense Few-Cycle Laser Pulses

The ultra-fast dynamics of He nanodroplets (103–105 atoms) in intense (1…7 ×1014 W/cm2), few-cycle (∼10 fs), infrared (∼790 nm) laser pulses has been investigated as a function of the number of dopant rare-gas atoms, the laser intensity and the rare-gas species. We find the “ignition” behaviour predicted by theory for 20 fs resulting in the complete ionisation and disintegration of the droplet, otherwise entirely transparent, initiated by just a few, less than 5 dopant atoms.

Doped Helium Nanodroplets in Intense Few-cycle Infrared Pulses

Die vorliegende Arbeit beschreibt experimentelle Untersuchungen zur Wechselwirkung ultrakurzer (10 fs, 800 nm) Laserpulse mit Helium-Nanotropfchen. In Einpulsmessungen konnte bei Spitzenintensitaten im Bereich von 10^14 bis 10^15 W/cm^2 gezeigt werden, dass weniger als 10 Dotierungsatome in einem aus 10000 Heliumatomen bestehenden Tropchen um eine vollstandige Ionisierung zu “zunden” ausreichen. Diese experimentellen Beobachtungen, die durch theoretische Modellrechnungen gestutzt werden, zeigen erstmalig die sehr effiziente Absorption und resonante Kopplung intensiver Laserfelder im nahen Infraroten an Cluster-Nanoplasmen auf einer Zeitskala von 10 fs. Anhand von Pump-Probe Messungen, die mit zwei zeitlich verzogerten Laserpulsen durchgefuhrt wurden, konnte die Auswirkung der Dotierung auf die bei der Ausdehnung des teilweise ionisierten Clusters auftretende Nanoplasma- Resonanz untersucht werden. Die Rolle der sich im Zentrum des Clusters befindlichen hochgeladenen Dotierungsatome (typischerweise Xenon) und der sie umgebenden Schale aus Helium-Ionen auf die auf (Sub-) Pikosekunden-Zeitskalen stattfindende Clusterexpansion wurde untersucht. Hierbei wurde erstmalig die Wichtigkeit der sich schnell ausdehnenden Helium-Schalen experimentell erkannt, wodurch die vorliegende Arbeit den Anstos zu einer neuen Betrachtungsweise der expansionsinduzierten Resonanz in dotierten Nanotropfchen liefert.