Via solution of appropriate variational problem it is shown that light beams with Gaussian spatial profile and sufficiently short duration provide maximal destruction of global coherence under nonlinear self-modulation.
I study how pulse to pulse phase coherence in a pulse train can survive super-broadening by extreme self phase modulation (SPM). Such pulse trains have been used in phase self-stabilizing schemes as an alternative to using a feedback process. However, such super-broadened pulses have undergone considerable distortion, and it is far from obvious that they necessarily retain any useful phase information. I propose measures of phase coherence (i.e. supercontinuum coherence) applicable to such pulse trains, and use them to analyze numerical simulations comparable to self-stabilization experiments.
Amplified ultrashort laser pulses are useful in many fields of science and engineering. Pushing the frontiers of ultrashort pulse generation will lead to new applications in biomedical imaging, communications and sensing. We propose a new, quantum approach to ultrashort pulse generation using transient quantum coherence which predicts order of magnitude stronger pulses generated with lower input energy than in the steady-state regime, reducing the practical heating limitations. This femtosecond quantum-coherent analog of nanosecond Q-switching is not limited by the pulse duration constraints o…
The experimental characterization of the spatial and temporal coherence properties of the free-electron laser in Hamburg (FLASH) at a wavelength of 8.0 nm is presented. Double pinhole diffraction patterns of single femtosecond pulses focused to a size of about 10 microns by 10 microns were measured. A transverse coherence length of 6.2 microns in the horizontal and 8.7 microns in the vertical direction was determined from the most coherent pulses. Using a split and delay unit the coherence time of the pulses produced in the same operation conditions of FLASH was measured to be 1.75 fs. From ou…
Sampling is the first step to convert an analogue optical signal into a digital electrical signal. The latter can be further processed and analysed by well-known electrical signal processing methods. Optical pulse sources like mode-locked lasers are commonly incorporated for all-optical sampling, but have several drawbacks. A novel approach for a simple all-optical sampling is to utilise the frequency-time coherence of each signal. The method is based on only using two coupled modulators driven with an electrical sine wave, allowing simple integration in appropriate platforms, such as Silicon …
We investigate nonlinear Kerr-induced coherence effect on a superluminal probing light pulse in a gain-assisted N-type 4-level atomic system via an intense monochromatic laser field. The dispersion exhibits a novel, interesting and useful two-paired double gain lines processes. The system displays lossless characteristics similar to [L. J. Wang, A. Kuzmich, A. Dogariu, Nature \textbf{406}, 277 (2000)] but with advantages of \emph{multiple} \textbf{controllable} anomalous regions, \emph{significantly enhanced} superluminal behavior and \textbf{relaxed} temperature, states of matter regardless o…
Measurements of the spatial and temporal coherence of single, femtosecond x-ray pulses generated by the first hard x-ray free-electron laser (FEL), the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS), are presented. Single shot measurements were performed at 780 eV x-ray photon energy using apertures containing double pinholes in "diffract and destroy" mode. We determined a coherence length of 17 micrometers in the vertical direction, which is approximately the size of the focused LCLS beam in the same direction. The analysis of the diffraction patterns produced by the pinholes with the largest separation …
Second-order intensity interferometry was employed to study the spatial and temporal properties of the European X-ray Free-Electron Laser (EuXFEL). Measurements were performed at the soft X-ray SASE3 undulator beamline at a photon energy of 1.2 keV in the Self-Amplified Spontaneous Emission (SASE) mode. Two high-power regimes of the SASE3 undulator settings, i.e. linear and quadratic tapering at saturation, were studied in detail and compared with the linear gain regime. The statistical analysis showed an exceptionally high degree of spatial coherence up to 90% for the linear undulator taperin…
Intense, well-controlled regular light pulse trains start to play a crucial role in many fields of physics. We theoretically demonstrate a very simple and robust technique for generating such periodic ultrashort pulses from a continuous probe wave which propagates in a dispersive thermal gas media.
Electron spin coherence has been generated optically in n-type modulation doped (In,Ga)As/GaAs quantum dots (QDs) which contain on average a single electron per dot. The coherence arises from resonant excitation of the QDs by circularly-polarized laser pulses, creating a coherent superposition of an electron and a trion state. Time dependent Faraday rotation is used to probe the spin precession of the optically oriented electrons about a transverse magnetic field. Spin coherence generation can be controlled by pulse intensity, being most efficient for (2n+1)pi-pulses.
Using the recently reported mode locking effect we demonstrate a highly robust control of electron spin coherence in an ensemble of (In,Ga)As quantum dots during the single spin coherence time. The spin precession in a transverse magnetic field can be fully controlled up to 25 K by the parameters of the exciting pulsed laser protocol such as the pulse train sequence, leading to adjustable quantum beat bursts in Faraday rotation. Flipping of the electron spin precession phase was demonstrated by inverting the polarization within a pulse doublet sequence.
We develop a model of full-field optical coherence tomography (FF-OCT) that includes a description of partial temporal and spatial coherence, together with a mean-field scattering theory going beyond the Born approximation. Based on explicit expressions of the FF-OCT signal, we discuss essential features of FF-OCT imaging, such as the influence of partial coherence on the optical transfer function, and on the decay of the signal with depth that is captured by the model. We derive the conditions under which the spatially averaged signal exhibits a pure exponential decay with depth, providing a …
The paper addresses the two-point correlations of electromagnetic waves in general random, bi-anisotropic media whose constitutive tensors are complex Hermitian, positive- or negative-definite matrices. A simplified version of the two-frequency Wigner distribution (2f-WD) for polarized waves is introduced and the closed form Wigner-Moyal equation is derived from the Maxwell equations. In the weak-disorder regime with an arbitrarily varying background the two-frequency radiative transfer (2f-RT) equations for the associated $2\times 2$ coherence matrices are derived from the Wigner-Moyal equati…
We report a study on the optical dipole force on a beam of neutral three-level like atomic system induced by a femtosecond super-Gaussian pulse. We show that maximum coherence between the ground state |1> and the excited state |2> could be achieved using a train of femtosecond pulses. In addition, it is possible to control the trajectory of the atoms in an atomic beam by using the same scheme. The robustness of the scheme against the variation of the pulse parameters is also investigated.
Recent investigations of microcavity frequency combs based on cascaded four-wave mixing have revealed a link between the evolution of the optical spectrum and the observed temporal coherence. Here we study a silicon nitride microresonator for which the initial four-wave mixing sidebands are spaced by multiple free spectral ranges (FSRs) from the pump, then fill in to yield a comb with single FSR spacing, resulting in partial coherence. By using a pulse shaper to select and manipulate the phase of various subsets of spectral lines, we are able to probe the structure of the coherence within the …
We investigate the evolution of coherence property of noise-seeded Stokes wave in short (< 1 ps) and long pulse (> 1 ps) regimes. Nonlinear equations expressing the evolution of pump and Stokes wave are solved numerically for both the regions. The simulations include quantum noise by incorporating noise seed in the pump field where one photon per mode with random phase. The spectral phase fluctuations of the Stokes wave for both the regions, are characterized by performing multiple simulations and finally, the degrees of first-order mutual coherence are calculated as a function of wavelength f…
It is well known that optical media create artificial geometry for light, and curved geometry acts as an effective optical medium. This correspondence originates from the form invariance of Maxwells equations, which recently has spawned a booming field called transformation optics. Here we investigate responses of three transformation media under electromagnetic pulses, and find that pulse radiation can induce unbalanced net force on transformation media, which will cause translation and rotation of transformation media although their final momentum can still be zero. Therefore, the transforma…
We present the results of an experimental and numerical investigation into temporally non-local coherent interactions between ultrashort pulses, mediated by Raman coherence, in gas-filled kagomé-style hollow-core photonic crystal fiber. A pump pulse first set up the Raman coherence, creating a refractive index grating in the gas that travels at the group velocity of the pump pulse. Varying the arrival time of a second probe pulse allows high degree of control over its evolution as it propagates along the fiber, in particular soliton self-compression and dispersive wave (DW) emission. In the ex…
The linear and nonlinear pulse propagations in lifetime-broadened three-state media with spontaneously generated coherence (SGC) are investigated theoretically. Three generic systems of V-, $Λ$-, and $Ξ$-type level configurations are considered and compared. It is shown that in linear propagation regime the SGC in the V-type system can result in a significant change of dispersion and absorption and may be used to completely eliminate the absorption and largely reduce the group velocity of a probe field. However, the SGC has no effect on the dispersion and absorption of the $Λ$- and $Ξ$-type sy…
We present a detailed analysis of coherence creation in a four level double lambda-like atomic system using a train of ultra-short few-cycle Gaussian pulses. The effect of the Doppler broadening has been analyzed. It is possible to create high coherence across all the velocity groups in the atomic ensemble using pulses with low repetition frequency. The accumulation of coherence at different radial locations within the atomic beam cross-section as a function of the number of pulses in the train is also reported. We find that pulse train with lower repetition frequencies are able to generate hi…
A new type of an optical interferometer is discussed the phase difference between the interfering beams in which is substantially wavelength dependent. It is shown that the function measured with this device is an integral transform of the field correlation function. Possible applications for data encoding and spectral linewidth measurements are considered.
A method is shown for preventing temporal broadening of ultrafast optical pulses in highly dispersive and fluctuating media for arbitrary signal-pulse profiles. Pulse pairs, consisting of a strong-field control-pulse and a weak-field signal-pulse co-propagate, whereby the specific profile of the strong-field pulse precisely compensates for dispersive phase in the weak pulse. A numerical example is presented in an optical system consisting of both resonant and gain dispersive effects. Here we show signal-pulses that do not temporally broaden across a vast propagation distance, even in the prese…
The stability of the phase difference between two white-light continua, generated from the same 180-fs pulses at 1035\,nm, is assessed by a modified Bellini-Hansch interferometer. Mutual spectral stability is studied as a function of several parameters: position of the nonlinear crystal with respect to the beam waist, interaction length, and pulse energy. Intensity-to-phase coupling coefficients are measured and stability regions are identified.
We have developed a new method based on two cavities containing $χ^{(2)}$ media to reshape optical pulses by an all-optical technique. The system is entirely passive \emph{i.e.}, all the energy is brought by the incoming pulse and uses two successive optical cavities with independent thresholds. The output pulse is close to a rectangular shape. We show that this technique could be extended to high bit rates and telecommunication wavelength using very small cavities containing current nonlinear materials.
We perform a beat-frequency-resolved analysis for two-dimensional electronic spectroscopy using a high-speed and stable 2D electronic spectrometer and few-cycle visible laser pulses to disentangle the vibrational coherences in an artificial fluorescent protein. We develop a highly stable ultrashort light source that generates 5.3-fs visible pulses with a pulse energy of 4.7 uJ at a repetition rate of 10 kHz using multi-plate pulse compression and laser filamentation in a gas cell. The above-5.3-fs laser pulses together with a high-speed multichannel detector enable us to measure a series of 2D…
We demonstrate numerically a method of focusing two-photon field inside one-dimensional random media. The approach is based on coherent control of backscattering achieved by adaptive spectral pulse shaping. The spectral phases of a femtosecond laser pulse are adjusted for the constructive interference of its backward-traveling components, resulting in an enhanced reflection from within the random system. A delayed forward-propagating second pulse overlaps with the controlled reflection, increasing the inter-pulse multi-photon field at a location determined by the delay between the two pulses. …
We analytically study the linear propagation of arbitrarily shaped light-pulses through an absorbing medium with a narrow transparency-window or through a resonant amplifying medium. We point out that, under certain general conditions, the pulse acquires a nearly Gaussian shape, irrespective of its initial shape and of the spectral profile of the line. We explicitly derive in this case the pulse parameters, including its skewness responsible for a deviation of the delay of the pulse maximum from the group delay. We illustrate our general results by analysing the slow-light experiments having d…
Unidirectional pulse propagation equations [UPPE, Phys. Rev. E 70, 036604 (2004)] have provided a theoretical underpinning for computer-aided investigations into dynamics of high-power ultrashort laser pulses and have been successfully utilized for almost a decade. Unfortunately, they are restricted to applications in bulk media or, with additional approximations, to simple waveguide geometries in which only a few guided modes can approximate the propagating waveform. The purpose of this work is to generalize the directional pulse propagation equations to structures characterized by strong ref…
We derive a nonlinear envelope equation to describe the propagation of broadband optical pulses in second order nonlinear materials. The equation is first order in the propagation coordinate and is valid for arbitrarily wide pulse bandwidth. Our approach goes beyond the usual coupled wave description of $χ^{(2)}$ phenomena and provides an accurate modelling of the evolution of ultra-broadband pulses also when the separation into different coupled frequency components is not possible or not profitable.
From long time transverse and longitudinal optical forces are used for non-contact and noninvasive manipulation of small particle. The following question arises: What is the impact of these forces on the continuous media as air and silica. In this work we obtain analytical expressions for radiation force and radiation potential in dipole approximation of laser pulses propagating in dielectric media. The longitudinal force is proportional to the second time derivative of the intensity profile. At fixed initial energy of a laser pulse, as shorter is the pulse as bigger is the force. It is possib…
In this paper, we describe analytically the propagation of Airy-type pulses truncated by a finite-time aperture when second and third order dispersion effects are considered. The mathematical method presented here, based on the superposition of exponentially truncated Airy pulses, is very effective, allowing us to avoid the use of time-consuming numerical simulations. We analyze the behavior of the time truncated Ideal-Airy pulse and also the interesting case of a time truncated Airy pulse with a "defect" in its initial profile, which reveals the self-healing property of this kind of pulse sol…
Light scattering in inhomogeneous media induces wavefront distortions which pose an inherent limitation in many optical applications. Examples range from microscopy and nanosurgery to astronomy. In recent years, ongoing efforts have made the correction of spatial distortions possible by wavefront shaping techniques. However, when ultrashort pulses are employed scattering induces temporal distortions which hinder their use in nonlinear processes such as in multiphoton microscopy and quantum control experiments. Here we show that correction of both spatial and temporal distortions can be attaine…
The transverse coherence of electrons is of utmost importance in high resolution electron microscopes, point-projection microscopes, low-energy electron microscopy and various other applications. Pulsed versions of many of these have recently been realized, mostly relying on femtosecond laser-triggering electron emission from a sharp needle source. We here observe electron interference fringes and measure how the interference visibility becomes reduced as we increase the electron bunch charge. Due to the extremely strong spatio-temporal confinement of the electrons generated here, we observe t…
Multiple scattering of waves in disordered media is a nightmare whether it be for detection or imaging purposes. The best approach so far to get rid of multiple scattering is optical coherence tomography. It basically combines confocal microscopy and coherence time-gating to discriminate ballistic photons from a predominant multiple scattering background. Nevertheless, the imaging depth range remains limited to 1 mm at best in human soft tissues. Here we propose a matrix approach of optical imaging to push back this fundamental limit. By combining a matrix discrimination of ballistic waves and…
The interaction between an atomic system and a few-cycle ultrafast pulse carries rich physics and a considerable application prospect in quantum-coherence control. However, theoretical understanding of its general behaviors has been hindered by the lack of an analytical description in this regime, especially with regard to the impact of the carrier-envelope phase (CEP). Here, we present an analytical theory that describes a two-level atom driven by a far-off-resonance, few-cycle square pulse. A simple, closed-form solution of the Schrodinger equation is obtained under the first-order perturbat…
We report an asymmetric behavior of optical pulses during their propagation through a time-varying linear optical medium. The refractive index of the medium is considered to be varying with time and complex such that a sufficient amount of gain and loss is present to realize their effect on pulse propagation. We have exploited the universal formula for optical fields in time-varying media. Numerically simulated results reveal that pulses undergo opposite temporal shifts around their initial center position during their bi-directional propagation through the medium along with corresponding spec…
In this paper we perform a fusion between two important theoretical methodologies, one related to the Frozen Wave beams, which are non-diffracting beams whose longitudinal intensity pattern can be chosen a priori in an medium (absorbing or not), and the other related to the Airy-Type pulses, which are pulses resistant to dispersion effects in dispersive materials. As a result, a new method emerges, capable of providing vortex pulses resistant to three concomitant effects, i.e.: diffraction, dispersion and attenuation; while concurrently the spatial variation of the wave intensity along its axi…
Using the Kantorovitch method in combination with a Gaussian ansatz, we derive the equations of motion for spatial, temporal and spatiotemporal optical propagation in a dispersive Kerr medium with a general transverse and spectral gain profile. By rewriting the variational equations as differential equations for the temporal and spatial Gaussian q parameters, optical ABCD matrices for the Kerr effect, a general transverse gain profile and nonparabolic spectral gain filtering are obtained. Further effects can easily be taken into account by adding the corresponding ABCD matrices. Applications i…
We study the nonlinear propagation of diffraction-free, space-time wave packets, also called time-diffracting beams because their spatiotemporal structure reproduces diffraction in time. We report on the spontaneous formation of propagation-invariant, spatiotemporally compressed pulsed beams carrying finite power from exciting time-diffracting Gaussian beams in media with cubic Kerr nonlinearity at powers below the critical power for collapse, and also with other collapse-arresting nonlinearities above the critical power. Their attraction property makes the experimental observation of the self…
The spatial dynamics of pulses in Kerr media with parabolic index profile are examined. It is found that when diffraction and graded-index have opposite signs propagating pulses exhibit an oscillatory pattern, similar to a breathing behavior. Furthermore, if the pulse and the index profile are not aligned the pulse oscillates around the index origin with frequency that depends on the values of the diffraction and index of refraction. These oscillations are not observed when diffraction and graded-index share the same sign.
We simulate the pump-probe experiments of lasing in molecular nitrogen ions with particular interest on the effects of rotational wave-packet dynamics. Our computations demonstrate that the coherent preparation of rotational wave packets in N$_2^+$ by an intense short non-resonant pulse results in a modulation of the subsequent emission from $B^2Σ_u^+ \rightarrow X^2Σ_g^+$ transitions induced by a resonant seed pulse. We model the dynamics of such pumping and emission using density matrix theory to describe the N$_2^+$ dynamics and the Maxwell wave equation to model the seed pulse propagation.…
We characterized spatially resolved spectral phase interferometry with an isolated attosecond pulse (IAP). The measured spatial-spectral interferogram and spectral interference fringe visibility show a high degree of IAPs spatial and spectral coherences. In addition, the characterized spectral-delay interferogram shows periodic temporal oscillations over the full IAP continuous spectrum, which indicates high temporal coherence. The IAP coherence over broad continuous spectral region holds potential for realizing the time-resolved IAP phase-based spectroscopy, which will contribute to exploring…
Noncollinear wave-mixing spectroscopies with attosecond extreme ultraviolet (XUV) pulses provide unprecedented insight into electronic dynamics. In infrared and visible regimes, heterodyne detection techniques utilize a reference field to amplify wave-mixing signals while simultaneously allowing for phase-sensitive measurements. Here, we implement a self-heterodyned detection scheme in noncollinear wave-mixing measurements with a short attosecond XUV pulse train and two few-cycle near infrared (NIR) pulses. The initial spatiotemporally overlapped XUV and NIR pulses generate a coherence of both…
We have demonstrated that near complete coherence can be achieved in a four level double lambda-like systems using a train of ultra-short optical pulses. The effect of the Doppler broadening has been analyzed and a scheme has been proposed for establishing high and uniform coherence across different velocity groups in the atomic ensemble. We have also presented a novel scheme of excitation using chirped pulses and shown that in addition to generating coherence in the system it is possible to alter the translational states of the atoms.
The observation of the Hong-Ou-Mandel (HOM)-type two-photon interference (TPI) has played an important role in the development of photonic quantum technologies. The time-resolved coincidence-detection technique has been effectively used to identify and characterize the TPI phenomena of long-coherence optical fields. Here, we report on the experimental demonstration of the TPI of two phase-randomized weak coherent pulses with time-resolved coincidence detection. The mutual coherence time between the two weak coherent lights is determined by applying a frequency noise to one of the two interferi…
A scheme to infer the temporal coherence of EUV frequency combs generated from intra-cavity high-order harmonic generation is put forward. The excitation dynamics of highly charged Mg-like ions, interacting with EUV pulse trains featuring different carrier-envelope-phase fluctuations, are simulated. While demonstrating the microscopic origin of the macroscopic equivalence between excitations induced by pulse trains and continuous-wave lasers, we show that the coherence time of the pulse train can be determined from the spectrum of the excitations. The scheme will provide a verification of the …
Spatial field correlation functions represent a key quantity for the description of mesoscopic phenomena in disordered media and the optical characterization of complex materials. Yet many aspects related to the vector nature of light waves have not been investigated so far. We study theoretically the polarization and coherence properties of electromagnetic waves produced by a dipole source in a three-dimensional uncorrelated disordered medium. The spatial field correlation matrix is calculated analytically using a multiple scattering theory for polarized light. This allows us to provide a for…
Developing an analytical theory for atomic coherence driven by ultrashort laster pulses has proved to be challenging due to the breakdown of the rotating wave approximation (RWA). In this paper, we present an approximate, closed-form solution to the Schrodinger equation that describes a two-level atom under the excitation of a far-off-resonance, few-cycle pulse of arbitrary shape without invoking the RWA. As an example of its applicability, an analytical solution for Gaussian pulses is explicitly given. Comparisons with numerical solutions validate the accuracy our solution within the scope of…
In this paper we analyze the properties of chirped optical X-shaped pulses propagating in material media without boundaries. We show that such ("superluminal") pulses may recover their transverse and longitudinal shape after some propagation distance, while the ordinary chirped gaussian-pulses can recover their longitudinal shape only (since gaussian pulses suffer a progressive spreading during their propagation). We therefore propose the use of chirped optical X-type pulses to overcome the problems of both dispersion and diffraction during the pulse propagation.
Motivated by the growing importance of the fidelity and fidelity susceptibility (FS) in quantum critical phenomena, we use these concepts to describe the pulse propagation inside the dispersive media. It is found that there is a dramatic change in the fidelity and the FS of the pulse at a critical propagation distance inside a dispersive medium, and whether such a dramatic change for a light pulse occurs or not strongly depends on both the dispersive strength of the media and the pulse property. We study in detail about the changes of the fidelity and the FS for both a smooth and a truncated G…
Pulsed Bessel beams of light propagating in free-space experience diffraction effects that resemble those of anomalous dispersion on pulse propagation. It is then shown that a pulsed Bessel beam in a normally dispersive material can remain diffraction- and dispersion-free due to mutual cancellation of diffraction and group velocity dispersion. The size of the Bessel transversal profile for localized transmission is determined by the dispersive properties of the material at the pulse carrier frequency.
Electronic coherence is of utmost importance for the access and control of quantum-mechanical solid-state properties. Using a purely electronic observable, the photocurrent, we measure an electronic coherence time of 22 +/- 4 fs in graphene. The photocurrent is ideally suited to measure electronic coherence as it is a direct result of quantum path interference, controlled by the delay between two ultrashort two-color laser pulses. The maximum delay for which interference between the population amplitude injected by the first pulse interferes with that generated by the second pulse determines t…
Quantum coherence between electronic states of a photoionized molecule and the resulting process of ultrafast electron-hole migration have been put forward as a possible quantum mechanism of charge-directed reactivity governing the photoionization-induced molecular decomposition. Attosecond experiments based on the indirect (fragment ion-based) characterization of the proposed electronic phenomena suggest that the photoionization-induced electronic coherence can survive for tens of femtoseconds, while some theoretical studies predict much faster decay of the coherence due to the quantum uncert…