Efficient self-compression of ultrashort near-UV pulses in air-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fibers

Abstract

We demonstrate generation of 7.6 fs near-UV pulses centered at 400 nm via 8-fold soliton-effect self-compression in an Ar-filled hollow-core kagomé -style photonic crystal fiber with ultrathin core walls. Analytical calculations of the effective compression length and soliton order permit adjustment of the experimental parameters, and numerical modelling of the nonlinear pulse dynamics in the fiber accurately predict the spectro-temporal profiles of the self-compressed pulses. After compensation of phase distortion introduced by the optical elements along the beam path from the fiber to the diagnostics, 71% of the pulse energy was in the main temporal lobe, with peak powers in excess of 0.2 GW. The convenient set-up opens up new opportunities for time-resolved studies in spectroscopy, chemistry and materials science.

Kilowatt-average-power single-mode laser light transmission over kilometre-scale hollow-core fibre

“…For the optical nonlinear response of atmospheric air, we have used a quasi-quantum model which includes an individual model for each gas component (for details and parameters, please refer to ref 45 ). The accuracy of this model is also verified independently in ref 47 for the femtosecond pulse regime. To include the nonlinear response of the glass in the modeling process, we used a multimaterial nonlinear response model by considering the relative power portion in the cladding glass and air core.…”

Beam profile and pulse width assessment in an engineered D-shaped hollow-core photonic crystal fiber

“…This was carried out by an HC-PCF in the air with no extra gas filler. Quite recently, ultrashort near-UV pulses have been generated by soliton self-compression [33]. The input pulses of 2.6 µJ and 54 fs are compressed to about 11 fs with Kagome-style HC-PCFs that were filled with ambient air and were shorter than 1 m. It is worth noting that, in both the theoretical and experimental studies cited above, the width of most input pulses is on the scale of several femtoseconds.…”

Hollow-core optical fibers: current state and development prospects

“…In Ref. [118], pump pulses with an energy of 2.6 mJ and duration of 54 fs at a wavelength of 400 nm were compressed to a duration of 11 fs. In this case, the core of the HCF with Kagom e cladding was filled with the surrounding air and had dimensions that allowed reaching a sufficient level of anomalous dispersion.…”