Generation of subpicosecond vacuum ultraviolet pulses at 126nm by using harmonics of a subpicosecond Ti:Sapphire laser

Katto, Masahito; Oda, Kazuyoshi; Kaku, Masanori; Yokotani, Atsushi; Kubodera, Shoichi; Miyanaga, Noriaki; Mima, K.

doi:10.1016/j.optcom.2009.10.023

Cited by 9 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…In most cases the driving laser is a Ti:Sapphire based Chirped Pulse Amplification (CPA) laser with typical parameters of from one to a few tens of mJ pulse energy, from 10 to 100 fs pulse duration, and from 10 Hz to 1 kHz repetition rate [26], [27] . The maximum expected energy in one harmonic at ~120 nm is up to 10 μJ.…”

Section: Intense Incoherent and Coherent Sourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transmission imaging of sodium in the vacuum ultra-violet spectral range: new application for an intense VUV source

Daido

Suzuki

Kawachi

et al. 2013

X-Ray Lasers and Coherent X-Ray Sources: Development and Applications X

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Metallic sodium (Na) was proposed as a transparent material in the vacuum ultra-violet (VUV) spectral range in 1930s and in 1960s. However no clear transmission has ever been demonstrated. In this paper we describe firstly the direct measurement of actual transmittance of a sodium samples in a spectral range longer than 115 nm which corresponds to the shortest transmission wavelength of magnesium fluoride (MgF 2 ) windows, resulting in several tens of % transmittance of a 3 mm-thick solid sodium sample including MgF 2 windows at the wavelength of ~120 nm. We also find very weak temperature dependency of the transmittance up to 150 degrees centigrade where the solid sample is melted at 97 degrees. The measured transmittance pushes us to make a simple imaging experiment illuminated by the VUV light through a 2-mm thick sodium sample, resulting in obtaining a clear image composed of 100 μm diameter tungsten mesh recorded on a two dimensional Charge Coupled Device detector. The result also opens a way to construct an optical imaging device for objects inside or through a solid or a liquid sodium medium. According to the present experiment, we can make a continuous real time transmission imaging for a liquid sodium sample if we use proper optical setup including an intense continuous VUV source or high repetition rated intense coherent source for holographic data acquisition. Such an experiment opens up a way to perform transmission imaging through or inside a sodium medium for characterization of hydrodynamic and material properties.

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Section: Intense Incoherent and Coherent Sourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Transmission imaging of sodium in the vacuum ultra-violet spectral range: new application for an intense VUV source

Daido

Suzuki

Kawachi

et al. 2013

X-Ray Lasers and Coherent X-Ray Sources: Development and Applications X

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“…We have been developing a new femtosecond VUV laser system at 126 nm [2], where we have used an argon excimer amplifier to amplify a weak VUV ultrashort seed pulse generated by harmonic generation. The seventh-order harmonic emission of a femtosecond laser at 882 nm was optimized as a seed pulse for our laser system [3].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Autocorrelation of femtosecond VUV pulses using multiphoton ionization

et al. 2011

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We have developed an autocorrelator utilizing multiphoton ionization of rare gases as a nonlinear medium to evaluate the pulse width of a femtosecond Ti:Sapphire laser at 882 nm. The autocorrelation width of 171 fs (FWHM) was evaluated by the autocorrelator utilizing nine-photon ionization of Ar. By using the ninth-order correlation factor of 1.06, the actual pulse width of 161 fs (FWHM) was determined, which was consistent to that of 165 fs (FWHM) measured with a two-photon autocorrelator. The autocorrelation measurement utilizing the multiphoton ionization of Ar should be applied to vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) ultrashort pulses at 126 nm, since neutral Ar atoms will be ionized by two-photon absorption. This method has a potential to become a versatile autocorrelator that characterizes femtosecond laser pulse widths in the wide spectral range between IR and VUV.

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“…The 7th harmonic emission of a fs Ti:Sapphire laser at 882 nm was optimized as a seed pulse for our laser system [3]. We also report the optical amplification of Ar 2 * at 126 nm, pumped by optical-field-induced ionization (OFI) created by an IR high-intensity laser [4,5].…”

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“…The other beam with a delay time MD1.3 (Contributed) 9:15 AM -2:00 PM of 20 ns was focused into a seed pulse generator filled with low-pressure xenon gas to produce a fs VUV seed pulse at 126 nm as a result of nonlinear wavelength conversion. The optimized 7th harmonic emission centered at 126 nm was obtained in Xe gas of 1 kPa [3]. The spectral bandwidth of the 7th harmonic was approximately 1.0 nm (FWHM), which may be limited by the spectral resolution of the VUV spectrometer.…”

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Optical amplification of VUV femtosecond pulses at 126 nm in OFI Ar₂* amplifier

Kaku

Daikyuji

Fujiyoshi

et al. 2013

2013 IEEE Photonics Conference

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We have observed the spatially-resolved optical amplification of femtosecond VUV pulses at 126 nm using an OFI Ar 2 * amplifier. The maximum amplification ratio of 2.57 was observed, which corresponded to the optical gain of 0.94 cm -1 .The progress of an ultrashort-pulse high-intensity laser is mainly based on solid-state laser media, such as a Ti:Sapphire laser. The lasing wavelengths are thus inevitably limited to the near infrared (IR) and visible spectral regions. In contrast, ultrashort-pulse lasers in the ultraviolet (UV) and vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) wavelength regions have not well been developed. The nonlinear wavelength conversion such as harmonic generation has been used to generate ultrashort UV and VUV pulses. The conversion efficiency is, however, low especially in the deep VUV region, since only available nonlinear media are low-density gases. As a result, observed pulse energy was limited to the order of nJ [1], which may be too small for applications.We have been developing new femtosecond (fs) VUV laser system at 126 nm [2], where we have used an argon excimer (Ar 2 *) amplifier to amplify a weak VUV ultrashort seed pulse generated by harmonic generation. The 7th harmonic emission of a fs Ti:Sapphire laser at 882 nm was optimized as a seed pulse for our laser system [3]. We also report the optical amplification of Ar 2 * at 126 nm, pumped by optical-field-induced ionization (OFI) created by an IR high-intensity laser [4,5]. An optical gain of 0.84 cm -1 was obtained by using multi-pass amplification using a VUV cavity [5]. From a practical point-of-view, this excitation method operates a tabletop laser at a high repetition rate, since a well-established IR high intensity laser is used as an excitation source.In this paper, we report the spatially-resolved optical amplification of the fs VUV seed pulse at 126 nm by using the OFI Ar 2 * amplifier. The maximum optical gain value of 0.94 cm -1 was consistent with that observed in previous experiments [5]. We measured the spatial distribution of the amplification ratio. The gain size of 220 μm (FWHM) was evaluated, which indicated the average plasma expansion temperature of 1.2 eV after 20 ns of the plasma production. Fig. 1. Experimental setup. Figure 1 shows a schematic diagram of the fs VUV laser system. This laser system was operated using one Ti:Sapphire laser operated at 882 nm, which produced an output energy of 1 mJ with a pulse width of 160 fs at a repetition rate of 1 kHz. The output pulse from the Ti:Sapphire laser was split into two beams using a 50:50 beam splitter (BS). One beam was focused into an Ar 2 * amplifier filled with argon gas up to 1 MPa to produce Ar 2 *. The other beam with a delay time 53 MD1.3 (Contributed) 9:15 AM -2:00 PM 978-1-4577-1507-5/13/$26.00 ©2013 IEEE

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Generation of subpicosecond vacuum ultraviolet pulses at 126nm by using harmonics of a subpicosecond Ti:Sapphire laser

Cited by 9 publications

References 18 publications

Transmission imaging of sodium in the vacuum ultra-violet spectral range: new application for an intense VUV source

Transmission imaging of sodium in the vacuum ultra-violet spectral range: new application for an intense VUV source

Autocorrelation of femtosecond VUV pulses using multiphoton ionization

Optical amplification of VUV femtosecond pulses at 126 nm in OFI Ar₂* amplifier

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Generation of subpicosecond vacuum ultraviolet pulses at 126nm by using harmonics of a subpicosecond Ti:Sapphire laser

Cited by 9 publications

References 18 publications

Transmission imaging of sodium in the vacuum ultra-violet spectral range: new application for an intense VUV source

Transmission imaging of sodium in the vacuum ultra-violet spectral range: new application for an intense VUV source

Autocorrelation of femtosecond VUV pulses using multiphoton ionization

Optical amplification of VUV femtosecond pulses at 126 nm in OFI Ar2* amplifier

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Optical amplification of VUV femtosecond pulses at 126 nm in OFI Ar₂* amplifier