Spectral polarization-encoding of broadband laser pulses by optical rotatory dispersion and its applications in spectral manipulation

We propose a kind of spectral polarization-encoding(SPE)for broadband light pulses,which is realized by inducing optical rotatory dispersion(ORD),and decoded by compensating ORD.Combining with polarization-sensitive devices,SPE can not only work to control polarization-dependent transmission for central wavelength or bandwidth-tunable filtering,but also can be used for broadband regenerative or multi-pass amplification with a polarization-dependent gain medium to improve output bandwidth.SPE is entirely passive thus very simple to be designed and aligned.By using an ORD crystal with a good transmission beyond 3-μm mid-infrared region,e.g.,Ag Ga S_(2),SPE promises to be applied for the wavelength tuning lasers in mid-infrared region,where the tunning devices are rather under developed compared with those in visible and near-infrared region.

Review and Prospect of Single-Shot Ultrafast Optical Imaging by Active Detection

In the recent decade,single-shot ultrafast optical imaging by active detection,called single-shot active ultrafast optical imaging(SS-AUOI)here,has made great progress,e.g.,with a temporal resolution of 50 fs and a frame rate beyond 10 trillion frames per second.Now,it has become indispensable for charactering the nonrepeatable and difficult-to-reproduce events and revealing the underlying physical,chemical,and biological mechanisms.On the basis of this delightful status,we would like to make a review of SS-AUOI.On the basis of a brief introduction of SS-AUOI,our review starts with discussing its characteristics and then focuses on the survey and prospect of SS-AUOI technology.

Switchable dual-wavelength Q-switched fiber laser using multilayer black phosphorus as a saturable absorber

Black phosphorus(BP), with thickness-dependent direct energy bandgaps(0.3–2 eV), shows an enhanced nonlinear optical response at near-and mid-infrared wavelengths. In this paper, we present experimentally multilayer BP flakes coated on microfiber(BCM) as a saturable absorber with a modulation depth of 16% and a saturable intensity of 6.8 MW∕cm^2. After inserting BCM into an Er-doped fiber ring laser, a stable dual-wavelength Q-switched state with central wavelengths of 1542.4 nm and 1543.2 nm(with wavelength spacing as small as 0.8 nm) is obtained with the aid of two cascaded fiber Bragg gratings as a coarse wavelength selector.Moreover, single-wavelength Q-switched operation at 1542.4 nm or 1543.2 nm is also realized, which can be switched between the two wavelengths flexibly just by adjusting the intracavity birefringence. These results suggest that BP combined with the cascaded fiber gratings can provide a simple and feasible candidate for a multiwavelength fiber laser. Our fiber laser may have potential applications in terahertz generation, laser radar,and so on.

High-spatial-resolution ultrafast framing imaging at 15 trillion frames per second by optical parametric amplification

We report a framing imaging based on noncollinear optical parametric amplification(NCOPA),named FINCOPA,which applies NCOPA for the first time to single-shot ultrafast optical imaging.In an experiment targeting a laser-induced air plasma grating,FINCOPA achieved 50 fs-resolved optical imaging with a spatial resolution of^83 lp∕mm and an effective frame rate of 10 trillion frames per second(Tfps).It has also successfully visualized an ultrafast rotating optical field with an effective frame rate of 15 Tfps.FINCOPA has simultaneously a femtosecond-level temporal resolution and frame interval and a micrometer-level spatial resolution.Combining outstanding spatial and temporal resolutions with an ultrahigh frame rate,FINCOPA will contribute to high-spatiotemporal resolution observations of ultrafast transient events,such as atomic or molecular dynamics in photonic materials,plasma physics,and laser inertial-confinement fusion.

Improved common-path spectral interferometer for single-shot terahertz detection

To seek high signal-to-noise ratio(SNR) is critical but challenging for single-shot intense terahertz(THz)coherent detection. This paper presents an improved common-path spectral interferometer for single-shot THz detection with a single chirped pulse as the probe for THz electro-optic(EO) sampling. Here, the spectral interference occurs between the two orthogonal polarization components with a required relative time delay generated with only a birefringent plate after the EO sensor. Our experiments show that this interferometer can effectively suppress the noise usually suffered in a non-common-path interferometer. The measured single-shot SNR is up to 88.85, and the measured THz waveforms are independent of the orientation of the used Zn Te EO sensor, so it is easy to operate and the results are more reliable. These features mean that the interferometer is quite qualified for applications where strong THz pulses, usually with single-shot or low repetition rate, are indispensable.

Generation and imaging of a tunable ultrafast intensity-rotating optical field with a cycle down to femtosecond region

A tunable ultrafast intensity-rotating optical field is generated by overlapping a pair of 20Hz,800 nm chirped pulses with a Michelson interferometer(MI).Its rotating rate can be up to 10 trillion radians per second(Trad/s),which can be flexibly tuned with a mirror in the MI.Besides,its fold rotational symmetry structure is also changeable by controlling the difference from the topological charges of the pulse pair.Experimentally,we have successfully developed a twopetal lattice with a tunable rotating speed from 3.9 Trad/s up to 11.9 Trad/s,which is confirmed by our single-shot ultrafast frame imager based on noncollinear optical-parametric amplification with its highest frame rate of 15 trillion frames per second(Tfps).This work is carried out at a low repetition rate.Therefore,it can be applied at relativistic,even ultrarelativistic,intensities,which usually operate in low repetition rate ultrashort and ultraintense laser systems.We believe that it may have application in laser-plasma-based accelerators,strong terahertz radiations and celestial phenomena.

Forty-five terawatt vortex ultrashort laser pulses from a chirped-pulse amplification system

We report on a vortex laser chirped-pulse amplification(CPA)system that delivers pulses with a peak power of 45 TW.A focused intensity exceeding 1019 W/cm2 has been demonstrated for the first time by the vortex amplification scheme.Compared with other schemes of strong-field vortex generation with high energy flux but narrowband vortex-converting elements at the end of the laser,an important advantage of our scheme is that we can use a broadband but size-limited q-plate to realize broadband mode-converting in the front end of the CPA system,and achieve high-power amplification with a series of amplifiers.This method is low cost and can be easily implemented in an existing laser system.The results have verified the feasibility to obtain terawatt and even petawatt vortex laser amplification by a CPA system,which has important potential applications in strong-field laser physics,for example,generation of vortex particle beams with orbital angular momentum,fast ignition for inertial confinement fusion and simulation of the extreme astrophysical environment.

Experimental realization to efficiently sort vector beams by polarization topological charge via Pancharatnam–Berry phase modulation

This paper reports the experimental realization of efficiently sorting vector beams by polarization topological charge(PTC). The PTC of a vector beam can be defined as the repetition number of polarization state change along the azimuthal axis, while its sign stands for the rotating direction of the polarization. Here, a couple of liquid crystal Pancharatnam–Berry optical elements(PBOEs) have been used to introduce conjugated spatial phase modulations for two orthogonal circular polarization states. Applying these PBOEs in a 4-f optical system,our experiments show the setup can work for PTC sorting with a separation efficiency of more than 58%. This work provides an effective way to decode information from different PTCs, which may be interesting in many fields, especially in optical communication.

宽能谱激光驱动质子束的传输与均匀化

激光加速器在几十年的发展中不断进步.激光等离子体作用产生的加速电场能够在微米尺度将质子加速到数十甚至百兆电子伏能量,有望成为新一代广泛应用的紧凑加速器.激光驱动质子束具有微米量级尺寸(点源)、安培量级的峰值电流、大能散、大散角等特点,具有广阔的应用前景.辐照应用要求质子束在较大面积上具有均匀分布剂量,因而需要在传输中完成从点源到较大面积、剂量均匀的质子束变换.为提高激光加速质子束的利用效率,要求传输的质子束能散范围尽可能大.而色差效应对大能散质子束的传输和均匀化提出了挑战.常梯度磁场的弱聚焦作用可以在水平和竖直方向同时聚焦,在水平方向分析能量;聚焦和能量分析一体化的光学特点能够实现消色差,或者显著降低色差的影响.本文研究了弱聚焦磁场用于大能散质子束传输和均匀化的特点和可行性,实现了20%能散质子束的均匀化传输.通过加入特殊的导向磁铁修正散角,减小色差效应在位置消色差中的影响,使得80%能散质子束传输后可保持较好的均匀性.对比质子束在强聚焦元件四极透镜中的传输,展示了弱聚焦磁场用于大能散质子束均匀化的优势.

Recent progress in multi-wavelength fiber lasers:principles,status,and challenges

In recent years,multi-wavelength fiber lasers play a significant role in plenty of fields,ranging from optical communications to mechanical processing and laser biomedicine,owing to their high beam quality,low cost,and excellent heat dissipation properties.Benefitting from increasing maturity of optical elements,the multi-wavelength fiber laser has made rapid developments.In this review,we summarize and analyze diverse implementation methods covering continuous wave and pulsed fiber lasers at room temperature conditions:inserting an optical filter device and intensity-dependent loss structure in the resonant cavity,and applying ultrafast nonlinear optical response of materials and a dual-cavity structure.Finally,future challenges and perspectives of the multi-wavelength fiber laser are discussed and addressed.

Accurate reconstruction of electric field of ultrashort laser pulse with complete two-step phase-shifting

This paper presents a complete two-step phase-shifting(TSPS) spectral phase interferometry for direct electric-field reconstruction(SPIDER) to improve the reconstruction of ultrafast optical fields. Here, complete TSPS acts as a balanced detection that can not only remove the effect of the dc term of the interferogram, but also reduce measurement noises,and thereby improve the capability of SPIDER to measure the pulses with narrow spectra or complex spectral structures.Some prisms are chosen to replace some environment-sensitive optical components, especially reflective optics to improve operating stability and improve signal-to-noise ratio further. Our experiments show that the available shear can be decreased to 1.5% of the spectral width, which is only about 1/3 compared with traditional SPIDER.

Generation of ultrafast radially polarized pulses through chirp-assisted femtosecond optical parametric amplification

Radially polarized beams characterized by an axially symmetric polarization distribution can be sharply focused to produce strong longitudinal fields in the vicinity.Future applications of these beams will be facilitated by the availability of higher powers and shorter durations.Currently,the ultrafast radially polarized pulse is typically generated via wavefront reconstruction from conventional linearly polarized states.Achievable pulse duration and intensity limits are strictly dependent on extra-cavity optics.Herein,a chirp-assisted near-degenerate type-II parametric process is presented as a pulse-energy-scalable method of accessing ultrafast radially polarized pulses.In a proof-of-principle experiment,the broadband gain balance between the orthogonally polarized signal components was realized via controlling the chirp of the pump pulse.Through an analogous pulseduration transfer effect,the radially polarized signal inherited the temporal and spectral characteristics of the pump pulse and maintained the radial polarization state of each frequency component of the signal.With a shorter pump pulse,the generation of few-cycle radially polarized pulses should be achievable,which may facilitate a wide range of ultrafast applications such as vacuum electron acceleration and high-harmonic generation.

Single-shot real-time imaging of ultrafast light springs

Light springs(LSs) have played essential roles in particle rotation and manipulation, optical super-resolution imaging, and optical information coding. In related research areas, it is important to accurately measure spatiotemporal information on LSs to understand and analyze their applications. However, there is no experimental method that can accurately detect the drastic spatial evolution of ultrafast LSs to date. Therefore, in this study, we propose a compressed ultrafast photography(CUP) technique to observe LSs in spatial and temporal dimensions with a snapshot. Using our home-built CUP system, we successfully capture spatiotemporal information on picosecond LSs with two and four petals, involving spatial structure and rotation velocity;furthermore, the experimental measurements are in good agreement with theoretical simulations. This study provides a novel visualization method for specifically measuring the spatial structure and temporal evolution of LSs, thus establishing a new idea for accurately characterizing spatiotemporal information on complex ultrafast laser fields.

Single-shot terahertz polarization detection based on terahertz time-domain spectroscopy

This paper presents a novel design for single-shot terahertz polarization detection based on terahertz time-domain spectroscopy(THz-TDS).Its validity has been confirmed by comparing its detection results with those of the THz common-path spectral interferometer through two separate measurements for the orthogonal components.Our results also show that its detection signal-to-noise ratios(SNRs)are obviously superior to those of the 45°optical bias THz-TDS by electro-optical sampling due to its operation on common-path spectral interference rather than the polarization-sensitive intensity modulation.The setup works without need of any optical scan,which does not only save time,but also efficiently avoids the disturbances from the fluctuations of the system and environment.Its single-shot mode allows it to work well for the applications with poor or no repeatability.

High-gain amplification for femtosecond optical vortex with mode-control regenerative cavity

Ultra-intense femtosecond vortex pulses can provide an opportunity to investigate the new phenomena with orbital angular momentum(OAM)involved in extreme cases.This paper reports a high gain optical vortex amplifier for intense femtosecond vortex pulses generation.Traditional regeneration amplifiers can offer high gain for Gaussian mode pulses but cannot amplify optical vortex pulses while maintaining the phase singularity because of mode competition.Here,we present a regeneration amplifier with a ring-shaped pump.By controlling the radius of the pump,the system can realize the motivation of the Laguerre–Gaussian[LG0,1(−1)]mode and the suppression of the Gaussian mode.Without seeds,the amplifier has a donut-shaped output containing two opposite OAM states simultaneously,as our prediction by simulation.If seeded by a pulse of a topologic charge of 1 or−1,the system will output an amplified LG0,1(−1)mode pulse with the same topologic charge as the seed.To our knowledge,this amplifier can offer the highest gain as 1.45×106 for optical vortex amplification.Finally,we obtain a 1.8 mJ,51 fs compressed optical vortex seeded from a 2 nJ optical vortex.