1
|
Galán MF, Serrano J, Jarque EC, Borrego-Varillas R, Lucchini M, Reduzzi M, Nisoli M, Brahms C, Travers JC, Hernández-García C, San Roman J. Robust Isolated Attosecond Pulse Generation with Self-Compressed Subcycle Drivers from Hollow Capillary Fibers. ACS PHOTONICS 2024; 11:1673-1683. [PMID: 38645995 PMCID: PMC11027177 DOI: 10.1021/acsphotonics.3c01897] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2023] [Revised: 03/05/2024] [Accepted: 03/05/2024] [Indexed: 04/23/2024]
Abstract
High-order harmonic generation (HHG) arising from the nonperturbative interaction of intense light fields with matter constitutes a well-established tabletop source of coherent extreme-ultraviolet and soft X-ray radiation, which is typically emitted as attosecond pulse trains. However, ultrafast applications increasingly demand isolated attosecond pulses (IAPs), which offer great promise for advancing precision control of electron dynamics. Yet, the direct generation of IAPs typically requires the synthesis of near-single-cycle intense driving fields, which is technologically challenging. In this work, we theoretically demonstrate a novel scheme for the straightforward and compact generation of IAPs from multicycle infrared drivers using hollow capillary fibers (HCFs). Starting from a standard, intense multicycle infrared pulse, a light transient is generated by extreme soliton self-compression in a HCF with decreasing pressure and is subsequently used to drive HHG in a gas target. Owing to the subcycle confinement of the HHG process, high-contrast IAPs are continuously emitted almost independently of the carrier-envelope phase (CEP) of the optimally self-compressed drivers. This results in a CEP-robust scheme which is also stable under macroscopic propagation of the high harmonics in a gas target. Our results open the way to a new generation of integrated all-fiber IAP sources, overcoming the efficiency limitations of usual gating techniques for multicycle drivers.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Marina Fernández Galán
- Grupo
de Investigación en Aplicaciones del Láser y Fotónica,
Departamento de Física Aplicada, Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, 37008, Spain
- Unidad
de Excelencia en Luz y Materia Estructuradas (LUMES), Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, 37008, Spain
| | - Javier Serrano
- Grupo
de Investigación en Aplicaciones del Láser y Fotónica,
Departamento de Física Aplicada, Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, 37008, Spain
- Unidad
de Excelencia en Luz y Materia Estructuradas (LUMES), Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, 37008, Spain
| | - Enrique Conejero Jarque
- Grupo
de Investigación en Aplicaciones del Láser y Fotónica,
Departamento de Física Aplicada, Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, 37008, Spain
- Unidad
de Excelencia en Luz y Materia Estructuradas (LUMES), Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, 37008, Spain
| | - Rocío Borrego-Varillas
- Institute
for Photonics and Nanotechnologies (IFN), Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, Milano, 20133, Italy
| | - Matteo Lucchini
- Institute
for Photonics and Nanotechnologies (IFN), Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, Milano, 20133, Italy
- Department
of Physics, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, Milano, 20133, Italy
| | - Maurizio Reduzzi
- Institute
for Photonics and Nanotechnologies (IFN), Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, Milano, 20133, Italy
- Department
of Physics, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, Milano, 20133, Italy
| | - Mauro Nisoli
- Institute
for Photonics and Nanotechnologies (IFN), Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR), Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, Milano, 20133, Italy
- Department
of Physics, Politecnico di Milano, Piazza Leonardo da Vinci 32, Milano, 20133, Italy
| | - Christian Brahms
- School
of Engineering and Physical Sciences, Heriot-Watt
University, Edinburgh, EH14 4AS, United
Kingdom
| | - John C. Travers
- School
of Engineering and Physical Sciences, Heriot-Watt
University, Edinburgh, EH14 4AS, United
Kingdom
| | - Carlos Hernández-García
- Grupo
de Investigación en Aplicaciones del Láser y Fotónica,
Departamento de Física Aplicada, Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, 37008, Spain
- Unidad
de Excelencia en Luz y Materia Estructuradas (LUMES), Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, 37008, Spain
| | - Julio San Roman
- Grupo
de Investigación en Aplicaciones del Láser y Fotónica,
Departamento de Física Aplicada, Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, 37008, Spain
- Unidad
de Excelencia en Luz y Materia Estructuradas (LUMES), Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, 37008, Spain
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Reduzzi M, Pini M, Mai L, Cappenberg F, Colaizzi L, Vismarra F, Crego A, Lucchini M, Brahms C, Travers JC, Borrego-Varillas R, Nisoli M. Direct temporal characterization of sub-3-fs deep UV pulses generated by resonant dispersive wave emission. OPTICS EXPRESS 2023; 31:26854-26864. [PMID: 37710535 DOI: 10.1364/oe.494879] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/12/2023] [Accepted: 07/19/2023] [Indexed: 09/16/2023]
Abstract
We report on the complete temporal characterization of ultrashort pulses, generated by resonant dispersive wave emission in gas-filled hollow-capillary fibers, with energy in the microjoule range and continuously tunable from the deep-ultraviolet to the ultraviolet. Temporal characterization of such ultrabroad pulses, particularly challenging in this spectral region, was performed using an all-in-vacuum setup for self-diffraction frequency resolved optical gating (SD-FROG). Sub-3-fs pulses were measured, tunable from 250 nm to 350 nm, with a minimum pulse duration of 2.4 ± 0.1 fs.
Collapse
|
3
|
Brahms C, Travers JC. Efficient and compact source of tuneable ultrafast deep ultraviolet laser pulses at 50 kHz repetition rate. OPTICS LETTERS 2023; 48:151-154. [PMID: 36563391 DOI: 10.1364/ol.480103] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/03/2022] [Accepted: 11/27/2022] [Indexed: 06/17/2023]
Abstract
Deep ultraviolet (DUV) laser pulses with tuneable wavelength and very short duration are a key enabling technology for next-generation technology and ultrafast science. Their generation has been the subject of extensive experimental effort, but no technique demonstrated thus far has been able to meet all requirements in one light source. Here we demonstrate a bright, efficient, and compact source of tuneable DUV ultrafast laser pulses based on resonant dispersive wave emission in hollow capillary fiber. In a total footprint of only 120cm×75cm, including the ytterbium-based drive laser, we generate pulses between 208nm and 363nm at 50kHz repetition rate with a total efficiency of up to 3.6%. Down-scaling of the DUV generation reduces the required energy sufficiently to enable the generation of two-color few-femtosecond DUV pulses.
Collapse
|
4
|
Zhang C, Chen T, Pan J, Huang Z, Liu D, Wang D, Yu F, Wu D, Zheng Y, Yin R, Jiang X, Pang M, Leng Y, Li R. Measurements of microjoule-level, few-femtosecond ultraviolet dispersive-wave pulses generated in gas-filled hollow capillary fibers. OPTICS LETTERS 2022; 47:4830-4833. [PMID: 36107101 DOI: 10.1364/ol.467644] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/13/2022] [Accepted: 08/24/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
To the best of our knowledge, we demonstrate the first time-domain measurement of µJ-level, few-fs ultraviolet dispersive-wave (DW) pulses generated in gas-filled hollow capillary fibers (HCFs) in an atmosphere environment using several chirped mirrors. The pulse temporal profiles, measured using a self-diffraction frequency-resolved optical gating setup, exhibit full width at half maximum pulse widths of 9.6 fs at 384 nm and 9.4 fs at 430 nm, close to the Fourier-transform limits. Moreover, theoretical and experimental studies reveal the strong influences of driving pulse energy and HCF length on temporal width and shape of the measured DW pulses. The ultraviolet pulses obtained in an atmosphere environment with µJ-level pulse energy, few-fs pulse width, and broadband wavelength tunability are ready to be used in many applications.
Collapse
|
5
|
Galán MF, Conejero Jarque E, San Roman J. Optimization of pulse self-compression in hollow capillary fibers using decreasing pressure gradients. OPTICS EXPRESS 2022; 30:6755-6767. [PMID: 35299454 DOI: 10.1364/oe.451264] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/14/2021] [Accepted: 02/06/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
The improvement of techniques for the generation of near-infrared (NIR) few-cycle pulses is paving the way for new scenarios in time-resolved spectroscopy and the generation of ultrashort extreme-ultraviolet pulses through high-harmonic generation. In this work, we numerically study how to optimize the self-compression of NIR pulses using decreasing pressure gradients in hollow capillary fibers (HCFs). We identify a moderate nonlinear regime in which sub-cycle pulses are obtained with very good temporal quality from an input 30 fs pulse centered at a 800 nm wavelength and coupled as the fundamental mode of an argon-filled HCF fully evacuated at the output end. Surprisingly, we observe that there is a relatively broad region of parameters for which the optimum self-compression takes place, defined by a simple relation between the input pulse energy and the initial gas pressure.
Collapse
|
6
|
Fernández Galán M, Conejero Jarque E, San Roman J. Pulse self-compression down to the sub-cycle regime in hollow capillary fibers with decreasing pressure gradients. EPJ WEB OF CONFERENCES 2022. [DOI: 10.1051/epjconf/202226608003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/05/2022] Open
Abstract
We theoretically demonstrate an enhancement in the generation of clean, near-infrared sub-cycle laser pulses by soliton self-compression in gas-filled hollow capillary fibers using decreasing pressure gradients. Furthermore, we identify the optimal input parameters for high quality compression and the main advantages of this promising technique which paves the way towards ultrafast vacuum experiments.
Collapse
|
7
|
Kotsina N, Brahms C, Jackson S, Travers JC, Townsend D. Spectroscopic application of few-femtosecond deep-ultraviolet laser pulses from resonant dispersive wave emission in a hollow capillary fibre. Chem Sci 2022; 13:9586-9594. [PMID: 36091901 PMCID: PMC9400683 DOI: 10.1039/d2sc02185d] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/15/2022] [Accepted: 07/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
We exploit the phenomenon of resonant dispersive wave (RDW) emission in gas-filled hollow capillary fibres (HCFs) to realize time-resolved photoelectron imaging (TRPEI) measurements with an extremely short temporal resolution. By integrating the output end of an HCF directly into a vacuum chamber assembly we demonstrate two-colour deep ultraviolet (DUV)-infrared instrument response functions of just 10 and 11 fs at central pump wavelengths of 250 and 280 nm, respectively. This result represents an advance in the current state of the art for ultrafast photoelectron spectroscopy. We also present an initial TRPEI measurement investigating the excited-state photochemical dynamics operating in the N-methylpyrrolidine molecule. Given the substantial interest in generating extremely short and highly tuneable DUV pulses for many advanced spectroscopic applications, we anticipate our first demonstration will stimulate wider uptake of the novel RDW-based approach for studying ultrafast photochemistry – particularly given the relatively compact and straightforward nature of the HCF setup. We exploit the phenomenon of resonant dispersive wave emission in gas-filled hollow capillary fibres to realize time-resolved photoelectron imaging measurements with an extremely short temporal resolution.![]()
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Nikoleta Kotsina
- Institute of Photonics & Quantum Sciences, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, EH14 4AS, UK
| | - Christian Brahms
- Institute of Photonics & Quantum Sciences, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, EH14 4AS, UK
| | - Sebastian L. Jackson
- Institute of Photonics & Quantum Sciences, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, EH14 4AS, UK
| | - John C. Travers
- Institute of Photonics & Quantum Sciences, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, EH14 4AS, UK
| | - Dave Townsend
- Institute of Photonics & Quantum Sciences, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, EH14 4AS, UK
- Institute of Chemical Sciences, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, EH14 4AS, UK
| |
Collapse
|
8
|
Lekosiotis A, Brahms C, Belli F, Grigorova TF, Travers JC. Ultrafast circularly polarized pulses tunable from the vacuum to deep ultraviolet. OPTICS LETTERS 2021; 46:4057-4060. [PMID: 34388810 DOI: 10.1364/ol.432228] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/30/2021] [Accepted: 07/19/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
We experimentally demonstrate the efficient generation of circularly polarized pulses tunable from the vacuum to deep ultraviolet (160-380 nm) through resonant dispersive wave emission from optical solitons in a gas-filled hollow capillary fiber. In the deep ultraviolet, we measure up to 13 µJ of pulse energy, and from numerical simulations, we estimate the shortest output pulse duration to be 8.5 fs. We also experimentally verify that simply scaling the pulse energy by 3/2 between linearly and circularly polarized pumping closely reproduces the soliton and dispersive wave dynamics. Based on previous results with linearly polarized self-compression and resonant dispersive wave emission, we expect our technique to be extended to produce circularly polarized few-fs pulses further into the vacuum ultraviolet, and few to sub-fs circularly polarized pulses in the near infrared.
Collapse
|
9
|
Brahms C, Travers JC. Timing and energy stability of resonant dispersive wave emission in gas-filled hollow-core waveguides. JPHYS PHOTONICS 2021. [DOI: 10.1088/2515-7647/abf238] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
We numerically investigate the energy and arrival-time noise of ultrashort laser pulses produced via resonant dispersive wave (RDW) emission in gas-filled hollow-core waveguides under the influence of pump-laser instability. We find that for low pump energy, fluctuations in the pump energy are strongly amplified. However, when the generation process is saturated, the energy of the RDW can be significantly less noisy than that of the pump pulse. This holds for a variety of generation conditions and while still producing few-femtosecond pulses. We further find that the arrival-time jitter of the generated pulse remains well below one femtosecond even for a conservative estimate of the pump pulse energy noise, and that photoionisation and plasma dynamics can lead to exceptional stability for some generation conditions. By applying our analysis to a scaled-down system, we demonstrate that our results hold for frequency conversion schemes based on both small-core microstructured fibre and large-core hollow capillary fibre.
Collapse
|
10
|
Wan Y, Chang W. Effect of decreasing pressure on soliton self-compression in higher-order modes of a gas-filled capillary. OPTICS EXPRESS 2021; 29:7070-7083. [PMID: 33726215 DOI: 10.1364/oe.418217] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/22/2020] [Accepted: 02/14/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
We numerically investigate soliton self-compression in the higher-order modes of a gas-filled capillary with decreasing pressure. We demonstrate four times enhancement in the compression with the decreasing pressure compared to the equivalent constant pressure case in the HE12 mode, reaching sub-cycle duration of 1.85 fs at its output. Moreover, the negative pressure gradient effectively suppresses the intermodal coupling in the later stage of the compressor, which helps to maintain high output mode purity. These findings are of direct benefit for applications that require ultrashort light pulses in unconventional spatial beam profiles, including in nonlinear frequency conversion, microscopy, micromachining, and particle manipulation.
Collapse
|