Transient Cherenkov radiation from an inhomogeneous string excited by an ultrashort laser pulse at superluminal velocity

An optical response of one-dimensional string made of dipoles with a periodically varying density excited by a spot of light moving along the string at the superluminal (sub-luminal) velocity is theoretically studied. The Cherenkov radiation in such system is rather unusual, possessing both transient and resonant character. We show that under certain conditions, in addition to the resonant Cherenkov peak another Doppler-like frequency appears in the radiation spectrum. Both linear (small-signal) and nonlinear regimes as well as different string topologies are considered.Comment: accepted to Phys. Rev.

Self-starting stable coherent mode-locking in a two-section laser

Coherent mode-locking (CML) uses self-induced transparency (SIT) soliton formation to achieve, in contrast to conventional schemes based on absorption saturation, the pulse durations below the limit allowed by the gain line width. Despite of the great promise it is difficult to realize it experimentally because a complicated setup is required. In all previous theoretical considerations CML is believed to be non-self-starting. In this article we show that if the cavity length is selected properly, a very stable (CML) regime can be realized in an elementary two-section ring-cavity geometry, and this regime is self-developing from the non-lasing state. The stability of the pulsed regime is the result of a dynamical stabilization mechanism arising due to finite-cavity-size effects

Generation of unipolar half-cycle pulse via unusual reflection of a single-cycle pulse from an optically thin metallic or dielectric layer

We present a significantly different reflection process from an optically thin flat metallic or dielectric layer and propose a strikingly simple method to form approximately unipolar half-cycle optical pulses via reflection of a single-cycle optical pulse. Unipolar pulses in reflection arise due to specifics of effectively one-dimensional pulse propagation. Namely, we show that in considered system the field emitted by a flat medium layer is proportional to the velocity of oscillating medium charges instead of their acceleration as it is usually the case. When the single-cycle pulse interacts with linear optical medium, the oscillation velocity of medium charges can be then forced to keep constant sign throughout the pulse duration. Our results essentially differ from the direct mirror reflection and suggest a possibility of unusual transformations of the few-cycle light pulses in linear optical systems

Stabilization of class-B broad-area lasers emission by external optical injection

We theoretically examine the effect of external optical injection on the spatio-temporal dynamics of class-B broad-area lasers. We demonstrate that optical injection can efficiently stabilize the intrinsic transverse instabilities in such lasers associated with both the boundaries of the pumping area and with the bulk nonlinearities of the active medium. Stabilizing action of optical injection is shown to be closely related to the suppression of inherent relaxation oscillations behavior.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figure

Passive and hybrid mode locking in multi-section terahertz quantum cascade lasers

It is believed that passive mode locking is virtually impossible in quantum cascade lasers (QCLs) because of too fast carrier relaxation time. Here, we revisit this possibility and theoretically show that stable mode locking and pulse durations in the few cycle regime at terahertz (THz) frequencies are possible in suitably engineered bound-to-continuum QCLs. We achieve this by utilizing a multi-section cavity geometry with alternating gain and absorber sections. The critical ingredients are the very strong coupling of the absorber to both field and environment as well as a fast absorber carrier recovery dynamics. Under these conditions, even if the gain relaxation time is several times faster than the cavity round trip time, generation of few-cycle pulses is feasible. We investigate three different approaches for ultrashort pulse generation via THz quantum cascade lasers, namely passive, hybrid and colliding pulse mode locking