High-energy pulse compression using phase shifts produced by the cascade quadriatic nonlinearity
OwnerFrank Wise, Qian Liejia +1inventors
InventorsFrank Wise, Qian Liejia, Xiang Liu
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Abstract
We report an optical pulse-compression technique based on quadratic nonlinear media. Negative nonlinear phase shifts are generated via phase-mismatched second-harmonic generation, and the phase-modulated pulses are then compressed by propagation through materials with normal dispersion. Millijoule-energy pulses from a Ti:sapphire amplifier are compressed from 120 to 30 fs, and calculations indicate that compression ratios>10 are realistically achievable using this approach with optimal materials. The insertion loss of the compressor can be less than 10% of the pulse energy, and scaling to higher pulse energies will be straightforward.
Claims35
A method of compressing an input optical pulse comprising:
- generating a negative phase variation on the input optical pulse by cascading of phase-mismatched second order processes;
- and
- propagating said optical pulse through a material with a positive group velocity dispersion creating an output pulse.
A pulse compressor comprising:
- a pulse source;
- a non-linear phase shifter characterized by a quadratic non-linearity, coupled to the pulse source so that the phase mismatch, ΔKL, is not equal to 0;
- and
- a dispersive element coupled to the non-linear phase shifter, the dispersive element having a dispersion selected to compensate for phase shift in the non-linear phase shifter to produce a compressed pulse.
A pulse compressor comprising:
- a pulse source;
- a non-linear phase shifter crystal characterized by a quadratic non-linearity, coupled to the pulse source so that the phase mismatch, ΔKL, is not equal to 0;
- and
- a dispersive element coupled to the non-linear phase shifter crystal, the dispersive element having a dispersion selected to compensate for phase shift in the non-linear phase shifter crystal to produce a compressed pulse.
A method of compressing an input optical pulse comprising:
- generating appositive phase variation on the input optical pulse by cascading of phase-mismatched second order processes;
- and
- propagating said optical pulse through a dispersive structure with negative group velocity dispersion creating an output pulse.
A method of compressing an input optical pulse characterized by a first wavelength comprising:
- generating a negative phase variation on the input optical pulse at a harmonic of the first wavelength by cascading of phase-mismatched second order processes;
- and
- propagating said pulse having the harmonic wavelength through a material or structure with positive group velocity dispersion.
A method of compressing an input optical pulse characterized by a first wavelength comprising:
- generating a positive phase variation on the input optical pulse at a harmonic of the first wavelength by cascading of phase-mismatched second order processes;
- and
- propagating said pulse having the harmonic wavelength through a material with negative group velocity dispersion creating an output pulse.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.