Development of a nonlinear nanoprobe for interferometric autocorrelation based characterization of ultrashort optical pulses

Abstract

Near-field scanning can achieve nanoscale resolution while ultrashort pulse diagnostic tools can characterize femtosecond pulses. Yet currently it is still challenging to nonperturbatively characterize the near field of an ultrashort optical pulse with nanofemtoscale spatiotemporal resolution. To address this challenge, we propose to develop a nonlinear nanoprobe composed of a silica fiber taper, a nanowire, and nonlinear fluorescent spheres. Using such a nanoprobe, we also report proof-of-principle characterization of femtosecond optical pulse through interferometric autocorrelation measurement.

Harmonic nanoparticles: noncentrosymmetric metal oxides for nonlinear optics

“…The high frequency components appearing due to the parallel beam geometry can be eliminated by Fourier filtering [86] and the resulting non-interferometric FROG spectrogram can be inverted by established algorithms to retrieve information about the spectral phase of the pulse at the focus [87]. A similar approach was successively applied in a series of experiments by the Liu group, attaching a HNP on a fiber taper via a carbon nanotube [88,89] making it possible to manipulate the probe with high precision via a piezoelectric stage for acquiring autocorrelation traces at the laser focus, using the HNP as nonlinear medium. The same device was successively used to detect a holographic FROG trace probing the evolution of a pulse at different locations in space [90].…”

Highly efficient flexible piezoelectric nanogenerator and femtosecond two-photon absorption properties of nonlinear lithium niobate nanowires

“…37,38 Therefore, determining nonlinearity in the femto-second time regime is a subject a) of great interest in order to design electro-optic and photonic devices. [39][40][41][42] In this work, we report the synthesis of LiNbO 3 NWs using the low-cost hydrothermal route for high efficient mechanical to electric energy conversion and optoelectronic applications. Structural and morphological characterizations of LiNbO 3 are also carried by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron, and high-resolution transmission electron microscopes (HR-TEM).…”

Development of functional nanoprobes for optical near-field characterization

“…For example, the CNT probe attached to a single fluorescent sphere can be used to investigate light-fluorophore interactions in complex dielectric structures. Similarly, we can apply the nonlinear probe in figure 4(b) to study the spatiotemporal evolution of ultrafast optical pulses [45]. However, in order to accomplish these goals, we need to first ensure that the nanoprobes fabricated in section 2 retain their active behaviors.…”