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Appi E, Papadopoulou CC, Mapa JL, Jusko C, Mosel P, Schoenberg A, Stock J, Feigl T, Ališauskas S, Lang T, Heyl CM, Manschwetus B, Brachmanski M, Braune M, Lindenblatt H, Trost F, Meister S, Schoch P, Trabattoni A, Calegari F, Treusch R, Moshammer R, Hartl I, Morgner U, Kovacev M. Synchronized beamline at FLASH2 based on high-order harmonic generation for two-color dynamics studies. Rev Sci Instrum 2021; 92:123004. [PMID: 34972439 DOI: 10.1063/5.0063225] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2021] [Accepted: 11/26/2021] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
We present the design, integration, and operation of the novel vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) beamline installed at the free-electron laser (FEL) FLASH. The VUV source is based on high-order harmonic generation (HHG) in gas and is driven by an optical laser system synchronized with the timing structure of the FEL. Ultrashort pulses in the spectral range from 10 to 40 eV are coupled with the FEL in the beamline FL26, which features a reaction microscope (REMI) permanent endstation for time-resolved studies of ultrafast dynamics in atomic and molecular targets. The connection of the high-pressure gas HHG source to the ultra-high vacuum FEL beamline requires a compact and reliable system, able to encounter the challenging vacuum requirements and coupling conditions. First commissioning results show the successful operation of the beamline, reaching a VUV focused beam size of about 20 µm at the REMI endstation. Proof-of-principle photo-electron momentum measurements in argon indicate the source capabilities for future two-color pump-probe experiments.
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Affiliation(s)
- E Appi
- Institut für Quantenoptik, Leibniz Universität Hannover, Hannover 30167, Germany
| | | | - J L Mapa
- Institut für Quantenoptik, Leibniz Universität Hannover, Hannover 30167, Germany
| | - C Jusko
- Institut für Quantenoptik, Leibniz Universität Hannover, Hannover 30167, Germany
| | - P Mosel
- Institut für Quantenoptik, Leibniz Universität Hannover, Hannover 30167, Germany
| | | | - J Stock
- Carl Zeiss AG, Oberkochen 73446, Germany
| | - T Feigl
- optiX fab GmbH, Jena 07745, Germany
| | | | - T Lang
- DESY, Hamburg 22607, Germany
| | | | | | | | | | - H Lindenblatt
- Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, Heidelberg 69117, Germany
| | - F Trost
- Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, Heidelberg 69117, Germany
| | - S Meister
- Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, Heidelberg 69117, Germany
| | - P Schoch
- Institut für Umweltphysik, Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg, Heidelberg 69120, Germany
| | - A Trabattoni
- Center for Free-Electron Laser Science CFEL, DESY, Hamburg 22607, Germany
| | - F Calegari
- Center for Free-Electron Laser Science CFEL, DESY, Hamburg 22607, Germany
| | | | - R Moshammer
- Max-Planck-Institut für Kernphysik, Heidelberg 69117, Germany
| | - I Hartl
- DESY, Hamburg 22607, Germany
| | - U Morgner
- Institut für Quantenoptik, Leibniz Universität Hannover, Hannover 30167, Germany
| | - M Kovacev
- Institut für Quantenoptik, Leibniz Universität Hannover, Hannover 30167, Germany
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Shumakova V, Ališauskas S, Malevich P, Voronin AA, Mitrofanov AV, Sidorov-Biryukov DA, Zheltikov AM, Kartashov D, Baltuška A, Pugžlys A. Chirp-controlled filamentation and formation of light bullets in the mid-IR. Opt Lett 2019; 44:2173-2176. [PMID: 31042176 DOI: 10.1364/ol.44.002173] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/11/2019] [Accepted: 03/26/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Formation of light bullets-tightly localized in space and time light packets, retaining their spatiotemporal shape during propagation-is, for the first time, experimentally observed and investigated in a new regime of mid-infrared filamentation in ambient air. It is suggested that the light bullets generated in ambient air by multi-mJ, positively chirped 3.9-μm pulses originate from a dynamic interplay between the anomalous dispersion in the vicinity of CO2 resonance and positive chirp, both intrinsic, carried by the driver pulse, and accumulated, originating from nonlinear propagation in air. By adjusting the initial chirp of the driving pulses, one can control the spatial beam profile, energy losses, and spectral-temporal dynamics of filamenting pulses and deliver sub-3-cycle mid-IR pulses in high-quality beam on a remote target.
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Shumakova V, Ališauskas S, Malevich P, Gollner C, Baltuška A, Kartashov D, Zheltikov AM, Mitrofanov AV, Voronin AA, Sidorov-Biryukov DA, Pugžlys A. Filamentation of mid-IR pulses in ambient air in the vicinity of molecular resonances. Opt Lett 2018; 43:2185-2188. [PMID: 29714785 DOI: 10.1364/ol.43.002185] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/08/2018] [Accepted: 02/26/2018] [Indexed: 06/08/2023]
Abstract
Properties of filaments ignited by multi-millijoule, 90 fs mid-infrared pulses centered at 3.9 μm are examined experimentally by monitoring plasma density, losses, spectral dynamics and beam profile evolution at different focusing strengths. By changing from strong (f=0.25 m) to loose (f=7 m) focusing, we observe a shift from plasma-assisted filamentation to filaments with low plasma density. In the latter case, filamentation manifests itself by beam self-symmetrization and spatial self-channeling. Spectral dynamics in the case of loose focusing is dominated by the nonlinear Raman frequency downshift, which leads to the overlap with the CO2 resonance in the vicinity of 4.2 μm. The dynamic CO2 absorption in the case of 3.9 μm filaments with their low plasma content is the main mechanism of energy losses and, either alone or together with other nonlinear processes, contributes to the arrest of intensity.
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Malevich PN, Maurer R, Kartashov D, Ališauskas S, Lanin AA, Zheltikov AM, Marangoni M, Cerullo G, Baltuška A, Pugžlys A. Stimulated Raman gas sensing by backward UV lasing from a femtosecond filament. Opt Lett 2015; 40:2469-2472. [PMID: 26030534 DOI: 10.1364/ol.40.002469] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
We perform a proof-of-principle demonstration of chemically specific standoff gas sensing, in which a coherent stimulated Raman signal is detected in the direction anticollinear to a two-color laser excitation beam traversing the target volume. The proposed geometry is intrinsically free space as it does not involve back-scattering (reflection) of the signal or excitation beams at or behind the target. A beam carrying an intense mid-IR femtosecond (fs) pulse and a parametrically generated picosecond (ps) UV Stokes pulse is fired in the forward direction. A fs filament, produced by the intense mid-IR pulse, emits a backward-propagating narrowband ps laser pulse at the 337 and 357 nm transitions of excited molecular nitrogen, thus supplying a counter-propagating Raman pump pulse. The scheme is linearly sensitive to species concentration and provides both transverse and longitudinal spatial resolution.
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Kartashov D, Ališauskas S, Pugžlys A, Voronin A, Zheltikov A, Petrarca M, Béjot P, Kasparian J, Wolf JP, Baltuška A. Mid-infrared laser filamentation in molecular gases. Opt Lett 2013; 38:3194-3197. [PMID: 24104685 DOI: 10.1364/ol.38.003194] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
We observed the filamentation of mid-infrared ultrashort laser pulses (3.9 μm, 80 fs) in molecular gases. It efficiently generates a broadband supercontinuum over two octaves in the 2.5-6 μm spectral range, with a red-shift up to 500 nm due to the Raman effect, which dominates over the blue shift induced by self-steepening and the gas ionization. As a result, the conversion efficiency into the Stokes region (4.3-6 μm) 65% is demonstrated.
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Malevich P, Andriukaitis G, Flöry T, Verhoef AJ, Fernández A, Ališauskas S, Pugžlys A, Baltuška A, Tan LH, Chua CF, Phua PB. High energy and average power femtosecond laser for driving mid-infrared optical parametric amplifiers. Opt Lett 2013; 38:2746-2749. [PMID: 23903130 DOI: 10.1364/ol.38.002746] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
We have developed the first (to our knowledge) femtosecond Tm-fiber-laser-pumped Ho:YAG room-temperature chirped pulse amplifier system delivering scalable multimillijoule, multikilohertz pulses with a bandwidth exceeding 12 nm and average power of 15 W. The recompressed 530 fs pulses are suitable for broadband white light generation in transparent solids, which makes the developed source ideal for both pumping and seeding optical parametric amplifiers operating in the mid-IR spectral range.
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Affiliation(s)
- P Malevich
- Photonics Institute, Vienna University of Technology, Vienna, Austria
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Malevich PN, Kartashov D, Pu Z, Ališauskas S, Pugžlys A, Baltuška A, Giniūnas L, Danielius A, Zheltiko A, Marangoni M, Cerullo G. Ultrafast-Laser-Induced Backward Stimulated Raman Scattering for Tracing Atmospheric Gases. EPJ Web of Conferences 2013. [DOI: 10.1051/epjconf/20134112009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
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Kartashov D, Ališauskas S, Pugžlys A, Voronin A, Zheltikov A, Baltuška A. Third- and fifth-harmonic generation by mid-infrared ultrashort pulses: beyond the fifth-order nonlinearity. EPJ Web of Conferences 2013. [DOI: 10.1051/epjconf/20134109007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
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Ališauskas S, Kartashov D, Pugžlis A, Voronin A, Zheltikov A, Petrarca M, Bejot P, Kasparian J, Baltuška A. Mid-Infrared femtosecond filament and three octaves continuum generation in gases. EPJ Web of Conferences 2013. [DOI: 10.1051/epjconf/20134110003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
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Malevich PN, Kartashov D, Pu Z, Ališauskas S, Pugžlys A, Baltuška A, Giniūnas L, Danielius R, Lanin AA, Zheltikov AM, Marangoni M, Cerullo G. Ultrafast-laser-induced backward stimulated Raman scattering for tracing atmospheric gases. Opt Express 2012; 20:18784-18794. [PMID: 23038518 DOI: 10.1364/oe.20.018784] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/01/2023]
Abstract
By combining tunable broadband pulse generation with the technique of nonlinear spectral compression we demonstrate a prototype scheme for highly selective detection of air molecules by backward stimulated Raman scattering. The experimental results allow to extrapolate the laser parameters required for standoff sensing based on the recently demonstrated backward atmospheric lasing.
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Affiliation(s)
- P N Malevich
- Photonics Institute Vienna University of Technology, Vienna, Austria
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Kartashov D, Ališauskas S, Pugžlys A, Voronin AA, Zheltikov AM, Baltuška A. Third- and fifth-harmonic generation by mid-infrared ultrashort pulses: beyond the fifth-order nonlinearity. Opt Lett 2012; 37:2268-2270. [PMID: 22739877 DOI: 10.1364/ol.37.002268] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/01/2023]
Abstract
Third- and fifth-harmonic generation by ultrashort laser pulses in the mid-infrared (mid-IR) reveals nonlinear-optical effects beyond the fifth-order nonlinearity and enables, because of an extraordinarily long coherence length, efficient multiplex frequency upconversion of ultrashort mid-IR pulses. We show that harmonic generation by mid-IR pulses provides an access to the key optical constants of gas media, allowing metrology of linear and nonlinear-optical susceptibilities in the mid-IR and offering a tool for the remote sensing of the atmosphere.
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Affiliation(s)
- D Kartashov
- Photonics Institute, Vienna University of Technology, Gusshausstrasse 27-387, A-1040 Vienna, Austria
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