Fundamental Limitations in the Measurement and Stabilization of the Carrier-Envelope Phase of Ultrashort Laser Pulses

Fundamental Limitations in the Measurement and Stabilization of the Carrier-Envelope Phase of Ultrashort Laser Pulses
Author: Sebastian Koke
Publisher:
Total Pages: 115
Release: 2012
Genre:
ISBN: 9783954040063

The stabilization of the carrier-envelope phase of ultrashort laser pulses went through a rapid development from the first publication of a feasible concept in 1999 to being a mature tool for frequency metrology and attosecond science now. Using this technique, stabilization of the timing between the carrier wave and the envelope of a laser pulse with residual jitters of only 100 attoseconds has become possible. Naturally, the questions arises whether and how this can be further improved. The current work is devoted to determining the physical mechanisms which generate jitter in carrier-envelope phase stabilization. Furthermore, it is investigated whether there is a fundamental limitation to the achievable accuracy. To this end, two methods for removal of technical noise contributions are initially discussed. Different interferometer topologies are investigated and spurious interferometer noise is reduced by more than 40% using a commonpath layout. A novel two-detector based carrier-envelope phase retrieval technique for amplified laser pulses is demonstrated enabling the circumvention of the shot-noise constraint of the conventional extraction method to the maximum extent possible. Next, a novel feed-forward stabilization concept is developed that enables carrier-envelope phase stabilizations with only 20 attosecond residual timing jitter between carrier and envelope of the laser pulse. This feed-forward method is unconditionally stable against drop-out and permits the generation of a train of pulses with identical electric field structure with no additional measures. As the feed-forward concept widely avoids the technical noise sources of the conventional feedback stabilization, the resulting noise spectra exhibit only two unavoidable residual noise mechanisms: a highfrequency white noise floor stemming from shot noise in the carrier-envelope phase detection and a drift-like contribution with 1/f noise characteristics. Finally, the drift-like residual noise mechan

A New Generation of High-Power, Waveform Controlled, Few-Cycle Light Sources

A New Generation of High-Power, Waveform Controlled, Few-Cycle Light Sources
Author: Marcus Seidel
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 227
Release: 2019-02-01
Genre: Science
ISBN: 3030107914

This thesis presents first successful experiments to carrier-envelope-phase stabilize a high-power mode-locked thin-disk oscillator and to compress the pulses emitted from this laser to durations of only a few-optical cycles. Moreover, the monograph introduces several methods to achieve power-scalability of compression and stabilization techniques. All experimental approaches are compared in detail and may serve as a guideline for developing high-power waveform controlled, few-cycle light sources which offer tremendous potential to exploit extreme nonlinear optical effects at unprecedentedly high repetition rates and to establish table-top infrared light sources with a unique combination of brilliance and bandwidth. As an example, the realization of a multi-Watt, multi-octave spanning, mid-infrared femtosecond source is described. The thesis starts with a basic introduction to the field of ultrafast laser oscillators. It subsequently presents additional details of previously published research results and establishes a connection between them. It therefore addresses both newcomers to, and experts in the field of high-power ultrafast laser development.

Attosecond Molecular Dynamics

Attosecond Molecular Dynamics
Author: Marc J J Vrakking
Publisher: Royal Society of Chemistry
Total Pages: 512
Release: 2018-08-31
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1788015134

Attosecond science is a new and rapidly developing research area in which molecular dynamics are studied at the timescale of a few attoseconds. Within the past decade, attosecond pump–probe spectroscopy has emerged as a powerful experimental technique that permits electron dynamics to be followed on their natural timescales. With the development of this technology, physical chemists have been able to observe and control molecular dynamics on attosecond timescales. From these observations it has been suggested that attosecond to few-femtosecond timescale charge migration may induce what has been called “post-Born-Oppenheimer dynamics”, where the nuclei respond to rapidly time-dependent force fields resulting from transient localization of the electrons. These real-time observations have spurred exciting new advances in the theoretical work to both explain and predict these novel dynamics. This book presents an overview of current theoretical work relevant to attosecond science written by theoreticians who are presently at the forefront of its development. It is a valuable reference work for anyone working in the field of attosecond science as well as those studying the subject.

Few-Cycle Laser Pulse Generation and Its Applications

Few-Cycle Laser Pulse Generation and Its Applications
Author: Franz X. Kärtner
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 472
Release: 2004-09-14
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9783540201151

This book covers the physics, technology and applications of short pulse laser sources that generate pulses with durations of only a few optical cycles. The basic design considerations for the different systems such as lasers, parametric amplifiers and external compression techniques which have emerged over the last decade are discussed to give researchers and graduate students a thorough introduction to this field. The existence of these sources has opened many new fields of research that were not possible before. These are UV and EUV generation from table-top systems using high-harmonic generation, frequency metrology enabling optical frequency counting, high-resolution optical coherence tomography, strong-field ultrafast solid-state processes and ultrafast spectroscopy, to mention only a few. Many new applications will follow. The book attempts to give a comprehensive, while not excessive, introduction to this exciting new field that serves both experienced researchers and graduate students entering the field. The first half of the book covers the current physical principles, processes and design guidelines to generate pulses in the optical range comprising only a few cycles of light. Such as the generation of relatively low energy pulses at high repetition rates directly from the laser, parametric generation of medium energy pulses and high-energy pulses at low repetition rates using external compression in hollow fibers. The applications cover the revolution in frequency metrology and high-resolution laser spectroscopy to electric field synthesis in the optical range as well as the emerging field of high-harmonic generation and attosecond science, high-resolution optical imaging and novel ultrafast dynamics in semiconductors. These fields benefit from the strong electric fields accompanying these pulses in solids and gases during events comprising only a few cycles of light.

Molecular Spectroscopy and Quantum Dynamics

Molecular Spectroscopy and Quantum Dynamics
Author: Roberto Marquardt
Publisher: Elsevier
Total Pages: 376
Release: 2020-09-18
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0128172355

Molecular Spectroscopy and Quantum Dynamics, an exciting new work edited by Professors Martin Quack and Roberto Marquardt, contains comprehensive information on the current state-of-the-art experimental and theoretical methods and techniques used to unravel ultra-fast phenomena in atoms, molecules and condensed matter, along with future perspectives on the field. Contains new insights into the quantum dynamics and spectroscopy of electronic and nuclear motion Presents the most recent developments in the detection and interpretation of ultra-fast phenomena Includes a discussion of the importance of these phenomena for the understanding of chemical reaction dynamics and kinetics in relation to molecular spectra and structure