I present several new methods for the characterisation of ultrashort pulses using interferometry. A generalisation of the concatenation algorithm for spectral shearing interferometry enables interferograms taken at multiple shears to be combined. This improves the precision of the reconstructed phase in the presence of detector noise, and enables the relative phase between disjoint spectral components to be obtained without decreasing the spectral resolution. The algorithm is applied to experimental data from two different implementations of spectral shearing interferometry for ultrashort optical pulses. In one, the shears are acquired sequentially, and in the other they are acquired simultaneously. I develop a form of spatio-temporal ultrashort pulse characterisation which performs both spatial and spectral shearing interferometry simultaneously. It requires a similar geometrical setup to common implementations of spectral phase interferometry for direct electric-field reconstruction, but provides complete amplitude and phase characterisation in time and one spatial dimension. I develop the theory of lateral shearing interferometry for spectrally resolved wavefront sensing of extended ultraviolet and soft x-ray pulses generated using high-harmonic generation. A comprehensive set of wavefront measurements of harmonics 13-25 in Krypton show good agreement with theory, validating the technique. I propose and numerically demonstrate quantum-path interferometry mediated by a weak control field for high harmonic generation. This is a general technique for measuring the amplitude and relative phases of each contributing quantum path. The control field perturbatively modulates the phase of each path. The differing sensitivity of each path to the parameters of the control field allows their contributions to be distinguished from one another.

Este trabalho teve como objetivo a montagem de um sistema de otimização de pulsos ultracurtos (oscilador laser modelocked de 15 fs), através de uma técnica de formatação de pulsos via absorção de dois fótons em compostos orgânicos. Está técnica utiliza uma estratégia evolucionária baseada em um algoritmo genético, onde se controla o formato do pulso pela deformação imposta a um espelho deformável, conjuntamente com o monitoramento de um sinal de realimentação. Desta forma, este sistema permite tanto a otimização do processo de absorção de dois fótons, quanto a otimização do próprio pulso do sistema laser. Após a montagem inicial do sistema de formatação de pulsos, foram implementados três métodos de otimização via monitoramento do processo de absorção de dois fótons, sendo que dois deles foram desenvolvidos nesta dissertação. Os métodos diferem entre si pelo emprego de distintos sinais de realimentação para o processo de otimização: (i) intensidade da fluorescência excitada por dois fótons; (ii) variação da transmitância não linear dos compostos orgânicos devido à absorção de dois fótons; e (iii) intensidade do efeito de lente térmica apresentada pelos compostos orgânicos após a absorção de dois fótons. Os três métodos de otimização apresentaram resultados similares e satisfatórios, aproximando a largura temporal do pulso ao final do processo de otimização da largura temporal dada pelo limite da transformada de Fourier, medidas através de técnicas de autocorrelação. Estes resultados apontam para a validade do uso dos métodos por nós desenvolvidos como alternativas para processos de otimização de pulsos ultracurtos. / In this work it is described the implementation of an ultrashort pulse optimization system (15 fs modelocked oscillator) that employs pulse shaping methods via two-photon absorption in organic materials. This technique uses an evolutionary strategy based on a Genetic Algorithm, where the pulse shape is controlled by a deformable mirror, while a feedback signal is monitored. In this way, this system allows both, the two-photon absorption process and pulse optimization. After the accomplishment of the pulse shaping system, we have implemented three distinct optimization methods via two-photon absorption monitoring, being two of them proposed in the present dissertation. These three methods differs from each other by the use of different feedback signals for the optimization process: (i) intensity of the two-photon excited fluorescence; (ii) nonlinear transmittance change in organic compounds due to the two-photon absorption; and (iii) intensity of the thermal lens effect. All optimization methods presented similar and satisfactory results, leading the ultrashort pulse, in the end of the optimization process, close to the Fourier transformed limit. In such cases, the pulse duration were determined through the autocorrelation technique. These results indicates that the new methods proposed here can be used as an alternative for both, pulse optimization and control of two-photon absorption process, specially for nonfluorescent samples.

Neste trabalho investigamos a dinâmica de formação de nanopartículas de Au por pulsos de femtossegundos formatados (800 nm, 30 fs, 1 kHz e 2 mJ), induzida pela ionização da molécula de quitosana. Inicialmente desenvolvemos um sistema de formatação de pulsos ultracurtos que faz uso de um modulador espacial de luz, constituído por um arranjo linear de cristais líquidos, com o qual somos capazes de impor distintas modulações de fase ao pulso laser. Para monitorar o processo de produção de nanopartículas, montamos um sistema de excitação (pulsos de femtossegundos) e prova (luz branca), o qual permite a observação em tempo real do aparecimento da banda de plásmon e, consequentemente, da dinâmica de formação das nanopartículas. Resultados obtidos para pulsos não formatados (limitados por Transformada de Fourier) demonstraram que a formação de nanopartículas deve-se à ionização não linear da quitosana, a qual está relacionada à oxidação do grupo hidroxila para o grupo carbonila. Medidas de microscopia eletrônica de transmissão forneceram os tamanhos (entre 20 e 100 nm) e formatos (esferas, pirâmides, hexágonos, bastões, etc) das nanopartículas geradas. Ainda, nossos resultados revelaram que esta ionização é iniciada por absorção multifotônica, mais especificamente por absorção de 4 fótons. Utilizando pulsos formatados com fase espectrais constante, degrau e cossenoidal com diferentes frequências, investigamos a influência destes na formação de nanopartículas. Concluímos que os pulsos mais longos são mais favoráveis ao processo de ionização, e consequente redução dos íons de Au para a formação de nanopartículas metálicas. Este comportamento se deve, provavelmente, à redistribuição da energia absorvida para os modos vibracionais, o que é mais provável para pulsos mais longos. Assim, o método apresentado pode abrir novas maneiras para a formação de nanopartículas de metálicas, as quais podem ser mais exploradas dos pontos de vista aplicado e fundamental. / In this work we have studied the synthesis of Au nanoparticles using shaped ultrashort pulses (800 nm, 30 fs, 1 kHz and 2 mJ), induced by the ionization of the chitosan. Initially we developed a pulse shaping setup that uses a spatial light modulator (liquid crystals array), with which we are able to impose distinct phase mask to the laser pulse. In order to monitor the nanoparticles production process, we used a pump-probe system, consisting of femtosecond pulses (pump) and white light (probe), which allows the observation of the plasmon band enhancement and hence the nanoparticles formation dynamics. The results obtained by Fourier Transform limited pulses have shown that the nanoparticles formation is due to the nonlinear ionization of chitosan, which is related to hydroxyl group oxidation to the carbonyl group. Transmission electron microscopy measurements provided the sizes (20-100 nm) and shapes (spheres, pyramids, hexagons, rods, etc.) of the produced nanoparticles. Moreover, our results revealed that ionization is initiated by multiphoton absorption, more specifically by four photons absorption. Using pulses shaped with constant, step and cossenoidal (with different frequencies) spectral phase masks, we investigated their influence in the nanoparticles formation. We conclude that longer pulses are more favorable to the ionization process and, consequently, to the gold ions reduction for the synthesis of the metallic nanoparticles. This behavior is probably due to the redistribution of the absorbed energy to the vibrational modes, which is more likely for longer pulses. Therefore, the approach presented here can open new ways to produce metallic nanoparticles, which can be further explored from applied and fundamental points of view.

This thesis deals with the design of a stretcher and compressor systems used for the chirped pulse amplification method for the L4 beamline. The L4 beamline is being developed for the ELI Beamlines project and aims to deliver pulses with peak power of 10 petawatt, central wavelength of 1060 nanometers, pulse duration of 150 femtoseconds and energy of 1500 Joules. Since the laser induced damage threshold and aperture of commercial diffraction gratings is currently a limiting factor in reaching higher peak powers, it was necessary to increase the effective aperture of the compressor using either tiled grating or object-image-grating self tiling methods. These two methods are compared for two compressor configurations using either 1740 ln/mm or 1136 ln/mm diffraction gratings, methods for their alignment are discussed and the selected alignment method is experimentally tested. Moreover, an analytical theory connecting the Seidel aberrations of the stretcher imaging system with the spectral phase deviation of the stretched pulse is presented. This theory is applied to commonly used Banks and Offner stretcher designs and it is demonstrated how it can be employed for the suppression of residual spectral phase of compressed pulses. Next, the design of the stretcher for the L4 beamline based on this theory is...

Die Weiterentwicklung von Ultrakurzimpulslaserquellen hat die Horizonte für Wissenschaft, Medizin und Industrie stetig erweitert. Ultrakurze Impulsdauern und hohe Energien erzeugen Spitzenleistungen auf der Gigawatt-Skala, deren zeitliche und spektrale Charakteristik ideale Voraussetzungen für nichtlineare zeitaufgelöste Spektroskopie und ultraschnelle nichtlineare Optik bieten. Die Untersuchung von Molekülschwingungen im sogenannten Fingerabdrucksbereich (engl. fingerprint region) und die effiziente lasergetriebene Erzeugung von Hohen-Harmonischen- und Röntgenimpulsen benötigen Laserquellen im mittleren bis langwelligen Infrarot. Da oberhalb einer Wellenlänge von 4 μm keine Festkörperlaserquellen existieren, hat sich optische parametrische Verstärkung zur Schlüsseltechnik in diesem Wellenlängenbereich entwickelt. In dieser Arbeit werden Laserimpulse oberhalb von 4 μm Wellenlänge mittels optischer parametrischer Verstärkung gestreckter Impulse erzeugt, deren Energien den Micro- bis Millijoule Bereich bei einer Kilohertz-Wiederholrate erreichen. Die Pumpwellenlänge von 2 μm ist vorteilhaft gegenüber den üblicherweise verwendeten Pumpen im nahen Infraroten und erlaubt zur Generation der Eingangsspektren besonders innovative kompakte Laserarchitekturen. Es werden zwei Systeme im mittleren und langwelligen Infrarot entwickelt basierend auf einem Cr:ZnS Eingangslaser, die bisherigen Systemen in Energie und Spitzenleistungen überlegen sind. Während sich die Laserquelle im mittleren Infraroten durch seine Durchstimmbarkeit auszeichnet, wird mit den langwelligen infraroten Impulsen erstmals einen nichtlineare Absorptionsmessung an Wasser durchgeführt. / The progress in the development of ultrafast laser sources has opened up new horizons in science, medicine and industry. Pulses of ultrashort duration and high energy reach gigawatt peak power which offer ideal conditions for time-resolved nonlinear absorption spectroscopy and ultrafast nonlinear optics. The investigation of vibrational states of biomolecules in the so-called fingerprint region and strong-field experiments aiming for the generation of high-harmonics or x-rays quest for such laser sources in the mid- to long-infrared spectral range. Due to the lack of existing solid state lasers beyond 4 μm, optical parametric amplification has emerged as the key technique to generate adequate infrared pulses. In this work, optical parametric chirped pulse amplification (OPCPA) is the key technique used to generate 100 μJ-level energy pulses at kHz repetition rate beyond 4 μm. In this context, novel front-end architectures are designed, tailored to compactness and to exploit the advantages of 2 μm pumped OPCPA over the typically used near-infrared drivers around 1 μm. The novel front-end based on a femtosecond Cr:ZnS oscillator emitting 30 fs pulses at 2.4 μm provides the necessary spectral components for the 2 μm pump and the signal. Two OPCPA systems in the mid-wave infrared (MWIR) and long-wave infrared (LWIR) spectral region, superior in terms of pulse energy and peak power compared with existing systems, are developed. While the tunability of the first system is unique, the second system is used to for the first time demonstrate a nonlinear transmission experiment in water by direct excitation of the L2 libration.

No description available.

<p>This thesis explores the ablation and texturing of synthetic single crystal diamond under ultrashort laser pulse irradiation in rough vacuum ambient conditions. Experiments were performed with a 1 kHz repetition rate titanium sapphire laser system producing pulses at 800 nm central wavelength and 150 fs pulse duration. First, the production of ordered periodic nanostructures (ripples) on the diamond surface was characterized and the periodicity of these structures was analyzed against irradiation parameters. Ripples were usually found to fall into one of two categories: one with a spatial period near the irradiation wavelength and one with a spatial period near λ/2n, where λ is the central laser wavelength in air and n is the refractive index of diamond at λ. The spatial periods were plotted against irradiation conditions including the peak fluence, number of incident pulses, and the angle of incidence. Unique outcomes arising out of complex irradiation conditions were also explored. Second, the ablation thresholds for single pulse up to 1000 pulse irradiation were determined using the <em>D</em>² method at both the fundamental central wavelength (800 nm) and the second harmonic (400 nm). The single 800 nm pulse ablation threshold for synthetic single crystal diamond was determined to be 2.3 J/cm² with an incubation coefficient of 0.54. The single 400 nm pulse ablation threshold was determined to be 1.5 J/cm² with an incubation coefficient of 0.73.</p> / Master of Applied Science (MASc)

No presente trabalho produzimos microestruturas, através da técnica de fotopolimerização via absorção de dois fótons, dopadas com nanofios de ZnO, um material que vem sendo amplamente explorado devido as suas interessantes propriedades ópticas e elétricas. Para a fabricação das microestruturas, utilizamos um oscilador laser de Ti:safira que produz pulsos de aproximadamente 100 fs em 800 nm. A intensidade dos pulsos de femtossegundos é alta o suficiente para induzir a absorção¬ de dois fótons em torno do volume focal, localizando a polimerização a esta região. Portanto, através da varredura do feixe na resina polimérica fabrica-se a estrutura desejada. Neste trabalho, desenvolvemos uma metodologia para introduzir nanofios de ZnO às microestruturas fabricadas, a partir da mistura do pó de nanofios de ZnO à resina acrílica. A resina utilizada é uma combinação de duas resinas, o etoxilated(6)trimethylolpropane triacrylate (SR-499) e tris(2-hydroxy ethyl)isocyanurate triacrylate (SR-368). Como fotoiniciador utilizamos o Lucirin TPO-L (2,4,6-trimetilbenzoiletoxifenil phosphine oxide). As microestruturas produzidas foram caracterizadas pelas técnicas de microscopia óptica, microscopia eletrônica de varredura, espectroscopia de energia dispersiva, difração de Raios X e espectroscopia de espalhamento micro-Raman. Através destas técnicas, foi possível observar a presença dos nanofios nas microestruturas, bem como caracterizar suas propriedades morfológicas que se mostram adequadas para o desenvolvimento de microdispositivos. Observamos também a emissão de fluorescência das microestruturas excitadas por um e dois fótons. Sendo assim, a metodologia de fabricação descrita aqui pode ser usada como mais uma opção na concepção de novos dispositivos tecnológicos. / In this study we fabricated microstructures, using the two-photon polymerization technique, containing ZnO nanowires, a material that has been widely exploited due to their interesting optical and electrical properties. For the microstructures fabrication, we used Ti:Sapphire laser oscillator operating at 800 nm with 100 fs pulses. The intensity of the fs-pulses is high enough to induce two-photon absorption, confining the excitation and thus the polymerization to the focal volume. By scanning the beam across the resin the desired microstructure is fabricated. In this work, we developed a method to introduce ZnO nanowires in the fabricated microstructure by mixing the ZnO nanowires powder to the acrylic resin. The used resin is a combination of two compounds, etoxilated(6)trimethylolpropane triacrylate (SR-499) and tris(2-hydroxy ethyl)isocyanurate triacrylate (SR-368). As a photoinitiator we have used Lucirin TPO-L (2,4,6-trimetilbenzoiletoxifenil phosphine oxide).The produced samples were characterized by optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction spectroscopy and micro-Raman scattering. From these techniques it was possible to observe the presence of nanowires in the microstructures, as well as to characterize the morphological properties, which has been shown to be interesting for developing microdevices. We have also observed fluorescent emission of the microstructures excites by one and two-photons absorption. Therefore, the methodology described here can be used as an alternative in the design of new optical devices.

Neste trabalho fizemos um estudo da geração de terceiro harmônico (GTH) usando pulsos de femtossegundos (fs). A GTH é uma importante técnica que permite estudar propriedades ópticas não lineares de terceira ordem de materiais. Estudamos a GTH aplicando as técnicas de franjas de Maker e a de varredura-Z em diferentes materiais levando em conta as contribuições de suas interfaces. A técnica de franjas de Maker com GTH permite a determinação de propriedades ópticas lineares e não lineares de volume, mas não de interface, portanto, a técnica de varredura-Z na condição de focalização forte foi implementada para estudar a influência da interface na GTH. Estudamos diversos vidros ópticos (sílica, K10, SK11, LLF1 e LLF6) e também diferentes soluções (acetona, clorofórmio, DMSO e tolueno) em uma cubeta. Em termos de número de interfaces, usando uma lâmina de vidro temos duas, no caso de um sanduíche de dois vidros temos três (entrada, meio e saída) e temos quatro interfaces para a cubeta. Observamos que elas contribuem tanto nas intensidades quanto nos espectros dos terceiros harmônicos (TH) gerados. Dependendo do tipo de interface e do sentido de propagação, tanto a intensidade quanto o espectro do TH são diferentes. Observamos que a reflexão de Fresnel atua significativamente nas diferenças de intensidades da GTH nas interfaces entre dois meios com índices de refração lineares diferentes. Uma interferência construtiva ocorre quando o feixe de laser propaga de um material com índice de refração mais alto para outro com índice mais baixo, aumentando a intensidade do laser e, consequentemente, gerando mais TH. Uma interferência destrutiva ocorre numa propagação oposta. Outro efeito interessante observado foi que, além da magnitude da não linearidade do meio, existem as contribuições da propagação e da modulação de fase cruzada no alargamento espectral do TH. Dessa forma, o alargamento espectral depende da não linearidade do meio e também do sentido de propagação no caso de interfaces. Em resumo, esse estudo nos levou a uma melhor compreensão dos fenômenos não lineares de GTH nas interfaces, e também possibilitou o surgimento de um novo método que pode ser usado para a determinação da susceptibilidade de terceira ordem de materiais. / In this work we did a study of the third-harmonic generation (THG) using femtosecond pulses. The THG is an important technique which allows studying thirdorder nonlinear optical properties of materials. We studied the THG by the Maker fringes and the Z-scan techniques in different materials taking into account their interfaces contributions. The Maker fringes technique with THG allows the determination of the bulk linear and the nonlinear properties, but not of the interface. Therefore, the Z-scan technique in the tight focused condition was implemented to study the interface influences on the THG. We studied several optical glasses (silica, K10, SK11, LLF1 and LLF6) and different solutions (acetone, chloroform, DMSO and toluene) in a cuvette. In term of numbers of interfaces, using a glass slab we have two, in the case of two sandwiched optical glasses we have three (input, middle and output) and for the cuvette we have four interfaces. We have observed that they play an important role on the third-harmonic (TH) intensities and spectra. Depending of the interface type and propagation direction, the TH intensity and spectrum are different. We have observed that the Fresnel reflection has a significant effect on the THG intensity differences between two media with different linear refractive indices. A constructive interference occurs when the laser beam propagates from one material with higher refractive index to one with lower refractive index, increasing the laser intensity and, consequently generating more TH. A destructive interference occurs in the opposite propagation case. Another important effect observed was that, beside the materials nonlinearity magnitude, there are propagation and cross-phase modulation contributions to the TH spectrum broadening. In this way, the spectrum broadening depends on the materials nonlinear properties and the propagation direction on the case of interfaces. In summary, this study leads to a better understanding of the TH nonlinear phenomena, and also, has allowed one new method for third-order nonlinear susceptibility determination.

Zuerst wird die Idee einer gechirpten photonischen Kristallfaser vorgestellt. Aus einem stark vereinfachten Modell, die qualitativen Eigenschaften dieses neuen Fasertyps abgeleitet. Hier gelingt es, alle wichtigen Designparameter zu bestimmen. Die hervorragenden Leitungseigenschaften dieser Fasern werden dann in Experimenten demonstriert. Ohne jegliche Dispersionskompensation wird die Übertragung eines 25 fs Impulses in einer 1 Meter langen Faser gezeigt. Wird zusätzlich eine Dispersionskompensation verwendet, lassen sich sogar Impulse mit weniger als 20 fs Dauer übertragen. Im Anschluss daran wird eine photonische Kristallfaser untersucht, die mit einer Flüssigkeit gefüllt ist. Die hergestellte Faser ist dahingehend optimiert, einen hoch effizienten Soliton-Fission Mechanismus zu ermöglichen, der zur Erzeugung von Weißlicht genutzt wird. Diese Weißlicht-Impulse haben eine mit Soliton-Fission bisher noch nie erreichte Energie von 390 nJ. Auf Grundlage einer guten Übereinstimmung mit den experimentellen Resultaten lässt sich aus numerischen Simulationen der zugrunde liegende Effekt bestimmen. Abschließend wird über ein Experiment berichtet, das die nichtlineare Wechselwirkung zwischen zwei Impulsen verschiedener Wellenlänge ausnutzt, um einen optischen Schalter zu verwirklichen. Dieses Experiment erfordert genaueste Kontrolle der Dispersion und der Nichtlinearität in der Faser. Bei der gleichzeitigen Propagation von zwei Impulsen wird ein neuartiger Schalteffekt beobachtet. Beide Impulse haben nahezu die gleiche Gruppengeschwindigkeit, und ihre nichtlineare Wechselwirkung basierend auf Kreuz-Phasen-Modulation wird dadurch deutlich verstärkt. Hiermit wird ein voll funktionsfähiger optischer Transistor mit gutem Schaltkontrast experimentell demonstriert, der insbesondere einen schwachen Impuls einen stärkeren Impuls schalten lässt. / First, the concept of a novel chirped photonic crystal fiber is introduced. The qualitative dispersion and loss properties of this new fiber are theoretically derived. The calculated results agree excellently with experimental data obtained from fabricated fiber samples. The superior guiding properties of this new photonic fiber are demonstrated in two experiments. The delivery of 25 fs pulses over a 1 meter distance is realized without any dispersion compensation. Moreover, using dispersion compensation, the delivery of even sub-20-fs pulses becomes possible. Subsequently, a photonic crystal fiber with a liquid core is investigated, work presents effective methods for the preparation and explains a scheme for successfully reducing the insertion loss. The fiber is optimized to support the highly efficient soliton-fission mechanism at unprecedented pulse energies in white-light supercontinuum generation. Because of the liquid core, the supercontinuum generation scheme can be scaled beyond the peak-power limitations of solid-core fibers. The generation of a two-octave spanning supercontinuum with 390 nJ pulse energy is demonstrated. The experimental results are compared to a numerical simulation and the underlying mechanism is identified. Finally, an experiment is presented that exploits strong nonlinear interaction of two pulses inside a photonic crystal fiber for all-optical switching. A novel effect is observed during the co-propagation of two ultrashort pulses with different wavelengths. Because of the dispersion properties in the chosen fiber, these pulses are propagating at nearly identical group velocities, which dramatically increases the nonlinear interaction via cross-phase modulation between the two pulses. Based on this interaction, a fully functional optical transistor is experimentally demonstrated with good switching contrast. In particular, the demonstrated optical transistor enables switching of a strong pulse by a much weaker pulse.