Open AccessBrewster-angled chirped mirrors for high-fidelity dispersion compensation and bandwidths exceeding one optical octave
Author(s) -
Günter Steinmeyer
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.11.002385
Subject(s) - optics , bandwidth (computing) , broadband , materials science , narrowband , pulse compression , dispersion (optics) , brewster's angle , optoelectronics , physics , brewster , computer science , telecommunications , radar
A novel design approach for dispersion-compensating chirped mirrors with greater-than-octave bandwidth is proposed. The commonly encountered problem of dispersion ripple is overcome by impedance matching via Brewster incidence in respect to the top-layer coating material. This approach totally suppresses undesired reflections off the interface to the ambient medium without any need for complicated matching sections. It is shown that Brewster-angled chirped mirrors can deliver ultrabroadband dispersion compensation over a much wider bandwidth than conventional doublechirped mirrors and without the mechanical complexity of back-deposition approaches. Due to their relatively simple structure, the sensitivity of the dispersion of the Brewster-angled designs towards growth errors is greatly reduced. Therefore, this new generation of chirped mirrors appears ideal for compression of continuum pulses with a potential of pulse durations in the single-cycle regime.