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Nie Z, Nambu N, Marsh KA, Matteo D, Patel CK, Zhang C, Wu Y, Carlström S, Morales F, Patchkovskii S, Smirnova O, Ivanov M, Joshi C. Bidirectional Cascaded Superfluorescent Lasing in Air Enabled by Resonant Third Harmonic Photon Exchange from Nitrogen to Argon. PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 2024; 133:063201. [PMID: 39178428 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.133.063201] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/29/2023] [Accepted: 06/18/2024] [Indexed: 08/25/2024]
Abstract
Cavity-free lasing in atmospheric air has stimulated intense research toward a fundamental understanding of underlying physical mechanisms. In this Letter, we identify a new mechanism-a third-harmonic photon mediated resonant energy transfer pathway leading to population inversion in argon via an initial three-photon excitation of nitrogen molecules irradiated by intense 261 nm pulses-that enables bidirectional two-color cascaded lasing in atmospheric air. By making pump-probe measurements, we conclusively show that such cascaded lasing results from superfluorescence rather than amplified spontaneous emission. Such cascaded lasing with the capability of producing bidirectional multicolor coherent pulses opens additional possibilities for remote sensing applications.
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Gao J, Zhang X, Wang Y, Dong J, Lei M, Liu Y, Wu C, Gong Q, Jiang H. Controlling the Polarization of Nitrogen Ion Lasing. J Phys Chem Lett 2024; 15:3805-3811. [PMID: 38557052 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.4c00004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/04/2024]
Abstract
Air lasing provides a promising technique to remotely produce coherent radiation in the atmosphere and has attracted continuous attention. However, the polarization properties of N2+ lasing with seeding have not been understood since it was discovered 10 years ago, in which the polarization behaviors appear disordered and confusing. Here, we performed an experimental and theoretical investigation of the polarization properties of N2+ lasing and successfully revealed its underlying physical mechanism. We found that the optical gain is anisotropic, owing to the permanent alignment of N2+ induced by the preferential ionization of the pump light. As a result, the polarization of the N2+ lasing tends to align with that of the pump light after amplification, which becomes more pronounced as the amplification factor increases. Based on the permanent alignment of N2+, we built a theoretical model that analytically interpreted and numerically reproduced the experimental observations, which points out the key factors for controlling the polarization of N2+ lasing.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jingsong Gao
- State Key Laboratory for Mesoscopic Physics, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| | - Xiang Zhang
- Shanghai Key Lab of Modern Optical System, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200093, China
| | - Yang Wang
- State Key Laboratory for Mesoscopic Physics, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| | - Jiahao Dong
- Shanghai Key Lab of Modern Optical System, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200093, China
| | - Mingwei Lei
- State Key Laboratory for Mesoscopic Physics, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| | - Yi Liu
- Shanghai Key Lab of Modern Optical System, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200093, China
- CAS Center for Excellence in Ultra-intense Laser Science, Shanghai 201800, China
| | - Chengyin Wu
- State Key Laboratory for Mesoscopic Physics, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| | - Qihuang Gong
- State Key Laboratory for Mesoscopic Physics, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| | - Hongbing Jiang
- State Key Laboratory for Mesoscopic Physics, School of Physics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
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Garratt D, Matthews M, Marangos J. Toward ultrafast soft x-ray spectroscopy of organic photovoltaic devices. STRUCTURAL DYNAMICS (MELVILLE, N.Y.) 2024; 11:010901. [PMID: 38250136 PMCID: PMC10799687 DOI: 10.1063/4.0000214] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2023] [Accepted: 12/17/2023] [Indexed: 01/23/2024]
Abstract
Novel ultrafast x-ray sources based on high harmonic generation and at x-ray free electron lasers are opening up new opportunities to resolve complex ultrafast processes in condensed phase systems with exceptional temporal resolution and atomic site specificity. In this perspective, we present techniques for resolving charge localization, transfer, and separation processes in organic semiconductors and organic photovoltaic devices with time-resolved soft x-ray spectroscopy. We review recent results in ultrafast soft x-ray spectroscopy of these systems and discuss routes to overcome the technical challenges in performing time-resolved x-ray experiments on photosensitive materials with poor thermal conductivity and low pump intensity thresholds for nonlinear effects.
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Bäuml L, Rott F, Schnappinger T, de Vivie-Riedle R. Following the Nonadiabatic Ultrafast Dynamics of Uracil via Simulated X-ray Absorption Spectra. J Phys Chem A 2023; 127:9787-9796. [PMID: 37955656 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpca.3c06509] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2023]
Abstract
The nucleobase uracil exhibits high photostability due to ultrafast relaxation processes mediated by conical intersections (CoIns), where the interplay between nuclear and electron dynamics becomes crucial. In our previous study, we observed seemingly long-lived traces of electronic coherence for the relaxation process through the S2/S1 CoIn by applying our ansatz for coupled nuclear and electron dynamics in molecules (NEMol). In this work, we theoretically investigate how time-dependent transient X-ray absorption spectroscopy can be used to observe this ultrafast dynamics. Therefore, we calculated X-ray absorption spectra (XAS) for the oxygen K-edge, using a multireference protocol in combination with NEMol dynamics. Thus, we have access to both the transient XAS based on the nuclear wavepacket dynamics and the modulation of the signals caused by the electronic coherence induced by the excitation process and the presence of a CoIn seam. In both cases, we were able to qualitatively predict its influence on the resulting XAS.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lena Bäuml
- Department of Chemistry, LMU Munich, Munich 81377, Germany
| | - Florian Rott
- Department of Chemistry, LMU Munich, Munich 81377, Germany
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Pan S, Zhang Z, Xu L, Zhang W, Lu P, Ji Q, Lin K, Zhou L, Lu C, Ni H, Ruiz C, Ueda K, He F, Wu J. Manipulating Parallel and Perpendicular Multiphoton Transitions in H_{2} Molecules. PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 2023; 130:143203. [PMID: 37084425 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.130.143203] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/13/2022] [Revised: 03/08/2023] [Accepted: 03/16/2023] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
We demonstrate that dissociative ionization of H_{2} can be fully manipulated in an angle-time-resolved fashion, employing a polarization-skewed (PS) laser pulse in which the polarization vector rotates. The leading and falling edges of the PS laser pulse, characterized by unfolded field polarization, trigger, sequentially, parallel and perpendicular transitions of stretching H_{2} molecules, respectively. These transitions result in counterintuitive proton ejections that deviate significantly from the laser polarization directions. Our findings demonstrate that the reaction pathways can be controlled through fine-tuning the time-dependent polarization of the PS laser pulse. The experimental results are well reproduced using an intuitive wave-packet surface propagation simulation method. This research highlights the potential of PS laser pulses as powerful tweezers to resolve and manipulate complex laser-molecule interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shengzhe Pan
- State Key Laboratory of Precision Spectroscopy, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China
| | - Zhaohan Zhang
- Key Laboratory for Laser Plasmas (Ministry of Education) and School of Physics and Astronomy, Collaborative Innovation Center of IFSA (CICIFSA), Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
| | - Liang Xu
- Key Laboratory for Laser Plasmas (Ministry of Education) and School of Physics and Astronomy, Collaborative Innovation Center of IFSA (CICIFSA), Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
- Shanghai Key Lab of Modern Optical System, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200093, China
| | - Wenbin Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Precision Spectroscopy, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China
| | - Peifen Lu
- State Key Laboratory of Precision Spectroscopy, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China
| | - Qinying Ji
- State Key Laboratory of Precision Spectroscopy, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China
| | - Kang Lin
- State Key Laboratory of Precision Spectroscopy, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China
| | - Lianrong Zhou
- State Key Laboratory of Precision Spectroscopy, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China
| | - Chenxu Lu
- State Key Laboratory of Precision Spectroscopy, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China
| | - Hongcheng Ni
- State Key Laboratory of Precision Spectroscopy, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China
- Collaborative Innovation Center of Extreme Optics, Shanxi University, Taiyuan, Shanxi 030006, China
| | - Camilo Ruiz
- Instituto Universitario de Física Fundamental y Matemáticas, Universidad de Salamanca, Plaza de la Merced s/n, 37008 Salamanca, Spain
| | - Kiyoshi Ueda
- State Key Laboratory of Precision Spectroscopy, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China
- Department of Chemistry, Tohoku University, Sendai 980-8578, Japan
| | - Feng He
- Key Laboratory for Laser Plasmas (Ministry of Education) and School of Physics and Astronomy, Collaborative Innovation Center of IFSA (CICIFSA), Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China
- CAS Center for Excellence in Ultra-intense Laser Science, Shanghai 201800, China
| | - Jian Wu
- State Key Laboratory of Precision Spectroscopy, East China Normal University, Shanghai 200241, China
- CAS Center for Excellence in Ultra-intense Laser Science, Shanghai 201800, China
- Chongqing Key Laboratory of Precision Optics, Chongqing Institute of East China Normal University, Chongqing 401121, China
- Collaborative Innovation Center of Extreme Optics, Shanxi University, Taiyuan, Shanxi 030006, China
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Cao J, Fu Y, Wang S, Chen J, Cong X, Li H, Xu H. Transition from triggered super-radiance to seed amplification in N 2 + lasing. OPTICS LETTERS 2023; 48:526-529. [PMID: 36723522 DOI: 10.1364/ol.478967] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2022] [Accepted: 12/19/2022] [Indexed: 06/18/2023]
Abstract
Air lasing induced by laser filamentation opens a new route for research on atmospheric molecular physics and remote sensing. The generation of air lasing is composed of two processes, i.e., building up optical gain of air molecules in femtosecond time scale and emitting coherent radiation in picosecond time scale. Here, we focus on the emission mechanisms of N2 + air lasing and reveal, by examining the intensities and temporal profiles of N2 + lasing at 391 nm generated respectively in a time-varying polarization-modulated and a linearly polarized pump laser field under different nitrogen gas pressures, that the N2 + lasing can emit through either triggered super-radiance or seed amplification. We find that the two pressure-sensitive factors, i.e., the dipole dephasing time T2 and the population inversion density n, determine which of these two mechanisms dominates the N2 + lasing emission process, enabling manipulation of the transition from triggered super-radiance to seed amplification or vice versa. Our findings clarify the emission mechanism of N2 + lasing under different pressures and provide a deeper understanding of N2 + air lasing not only in the establishment of optical gain but also in the lasing emission process.
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