Femtosecond filamentation induced fluorescence technique for atmospheric sensing

Recent progress in filament-induced atmospheric sensing is reviewed. Self-guided propagation of ultrashort laser pulses in air induces laser filamentation. All molecules in the path of a filament can be dissociated into highly excited fragments, resulting in emission of characteristic fluorescence spectra. The fluorescence spectra provide information about the various molecules in the filaments. By using a filament-induced ＂fingerprinting＂ fluorescence technique, molecules in the atmosphere can be identified.

Stable,intense supercontinuum light generation at 1 kHz by electric field assisted femtosecond laser filamentation in air

Supercontinuum(SC)light source has advanced ultrafast laser spectroscopy in condensed matter science,biology,physics,and chemistry.Compared to the frequently used photonic crystal fibers and bulk materials,femtosecond laser filamentation in gases is damage-immune for supercontinuum generation.A bottleneck problem is the strong jitters from filament induced self-heating at kHz repetition rate level.We demonstrated stable kHz supercontinuum generation directly in air with multiple mJ level pulse energy.This was achieved by applying an external DC electric field to the air plasma filament.Beam pointing jitters of the 1 kHz air filament induced SC light were reduced by more than 2 fold.The stabilized high repetition rate laser filament offers the opportunity for stable intense SC generation and its applications in air.

Nonlinear increase,invisibility,and sign inversion of a localized fs-laser-induced refractive index change in crystals and glasses

Multiphoton absorption via ultrafast laser focusing is the only technology that allows a three-dimensional structural modification of transparent materials.However,the magnitude of the refractive index change is rather limited,preventing the technology from being a tool of choice for the manufacture of compact photonic integrated circuits.We propose to address this issue by employing a femtosecond-laser-induced electronic band-gap shift(FLIBGS),which has an exponential impact on the refractive index change for propagating wavelengths approaching the material electronic resonance,as predicted by the Kramers–Kronig relations.Supported by theoretical calculations,based on a modified Sellmeier equation,the Tauc law,and waveguide bend loss calculations,we experimentally show that several applications could take advantage of this phenomenon.First,we demonstrate waveguide bends down to a submillimeter radius,which is of great interest for higher-density integration of fs-laser-written quantum and photonic circuits.We also demonstrate that the refractive index contrast can be switched from negative to positive,allowing direct waveguide inscription in crystals.Finally,the effect of the FLIBGS can compensate for the fs-laser-induced negative refractive index change,resulting in a zero refractive index change at specific wavelengths,paving the way for new invisibility applications.

Spectroscopic analysis of high electric field enhanced ionization in laser filaments in air for corona guiding

We report on a systematic experimental study on the fluorescence spectra produced from a femtosecond laser filament in air under a high electric field. The electric field alone was strong enough to create corona discharge(CD). Fluorescence spectra from neutral and ionic air molecules were measured and compared with pure high-voltage CD and pure laser filamentation(FIL). Among them, high electric field assisted laser FIL produced nitrogen fluorescence more efficiently than either pure CD or pure FIL processes. The nonlinear enhancement of fluorescence from the interaction of the laser filament and corona discharging electric field resulted in a more efficient ionization along the laser filament zone, which was confirmed by the spectroscopic measurement of both ionization-induced fluorescence and plasma-scattered 800 nm laser pulses. This is believed to be the key precursor process for filament-guided discharge.

Simultaneous dual-contrast three-dimensional imaging in live cells via optical diffraction tomography and fluorescence

We report a dual-contrast method of simultaneously measuring and visualizing the volumetric structural information in live biological samples in three-dimensional(3D) space. By introducing a direct way of deriving the 3D scattering potential of the object from the synthesized angular spectra, we obtain the quantitative subcellular morphology in refractive indices(RIs) side-by-side with its fluorescence signals. The additional contrast in RI complements the fluorescent signal, providing additional information of the targeted zones. The simultaneous dual-contrast 3D mechanism unveiled interesting information inaccessible with previous methods, as we demonstrated in the human immune cell(T cell) experiment. Further validation has been demonstrated using a Monte Carlo model.

Photoemission mechanisms of methane in intense laser fields

The visible and near-UV emission spectroscopy of methane （CH4） induced by a femtosecond intense laser field （800 nm, 40 fs, 1014 W/cm2） is studied. By measuring the decay profiles of the neutral fragment product CH （A2△→X2П）, two reaction pathways, i.e., the electron-ion recombination through e- ＋ CH＋ and the direct disintegration of CH＋ are found to be responsible for populating the electronic excited states of the neutral fragment product CH, which gives rise to the photoemissions. Our results provide complementary information on previous understanding of the strong-field-induced photoemission mechanism of CH4 through neutral dissociation of superexcited states.

Mode-conversion-based silicon photonic modulator loaded by a combination of lateral and interleaved p-n junctions

We experimentally demonstrate a silicon photonic modulator that can be loaded with a combination of lateral and interleaved p-n junctions to enhance its phase modulation.We use an asymmetric Bragg grating to introduce mode conversion in the active area,allowing the modulator to operate in reflection without introducing additional on-chip loss.With a compact footprint(phase shifter length of 290μm),the modulator demonstrates a modulation speed up to 45 Gb/s with a bit error rate below the 7% forward-error-correction(FEC)threshold(up to 55 Gb/s with 20% FEC),and a low power consumption of 226 fJ/bit.

Polarization-dependent femtosecond laser filamentation in air

We report on a systematic study of the laser polarization effect on a femtosecond laser filamentation in air.By changing the laser’s ellipticity from linear polarization to circular polarization, the onset position of laser filament formation becomes farther from the focusing optics, the filament length is shorter, and less laser energy is deposited. The laser polarization effect on air filaments is supported by a simulation and analysis of the polarization-dependent critical power and ionization rates in air.

超快激光成丝现象研究综述

超快激光成丝是高功率超快激光在透明光学介质中传输时出现的一种独特非线性光学现象,所产生长度远超共焦范围的离子体通道被称为光丝;同时伴随超连续谱产生、荧光辐射和受激放大、脉冲自压缩等丰富的光学效应,在大气遥感、超快激光技术、人工干预天气、激光超精细加工等方面具有广泛应用前景。本文对成丝现象研究的历史发展进行了简单介绍,包括实验技术、基本物理机制和调控方法的主要研究进展,并对成丝在大气远程应用、物理化学机制、强THz波产生等方面的研究所面临的挑战进行了展望。