Open AccessEfficient and tunable spectral compression using frequency-domain nonlinear optics
Author(s) -
Karen E. Thorn,
Nicholas R. Monahan,
Shyamal K. K. Prasad,
K Chen,
Justin M. Hodgkiss
Publication year - 2018
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.26.028140
Subject(s) - optics , femtosecond , picosecond , narrowband , ultrashort pulse , materials science , pulse compression , laser , broadband , bandwidth (computing) , femtosecond pulse shaping , sum frequency generation , chirp , pulse shaping , nonlinear optics , optoelectronics , physics , telecommunications , computer science , radar
A key requirement in the field of ultrafast vibrational spectroscopy is to efficiently generate intense tunable narrowband picosecond laser pulses synchronized to a broadband femtosecond laser source. Current nonlinear methods for picosecond pulse generation suffer from complexities in both experimental implementation and pulse frequency tunability. We present here a straightforward method for spectral bandwidth compression that produces frequency tunable picosecond pulses with efficient power conversion. Broadband femtosecond laser pulses are compressed to narrowband picosecond pulses using frequency domain sum-frequency generation of spatially chirped pulses, achieving spectral bandwidths of <20 cm -1 and power conversion efficiency of ∼18%. The experimental design of the bandwidth compressor is presented and its application to stimulated Raman spectroscopy is demonstrated.