62 research outputs found
Journeys from quantum optics to quantum technology
Sir Peter Knight is a pioneer in quantum optics which has now grown to an important branch of modern physics to study the foundations and applications of quantum physics. He is leading an effort to develop new technologies from quantum mechanics. In this collection of essays, we recall the time we were working with him as a postdoc or a PhD student and look at how the time with him has influenced our research
Efficient nonlinear compression of a thin-disk oscillator to 8.5 fs at 55 W average power
We demonstrate an efficient hybrid-scheme for nonlinear pulse compression of
high-power thin-disk oscillator pulses to the sub-10 fs regime. The output of a
home-built, 16 MHz, 84 W, 220 fs Yb:YAG thin-disk oscillator at 1030 nm is
first compressed to 17 fs in two nonlinear multipass cells. In a third stage,
based on multiple thin sapphire plates, further compression to 8.5 fs with 55 W
output power and an overall optical efficiency of 65% is achieved. By sending
the 2.5-cycle pulses into a lithium iodate crystal, we were able to generate
ultra-broadband mid-infrared pulses covering the spectral range 2.4-8 m.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure
Frustrated tunnelling ionization during strong-field fragmentation of D3+
We reveal surprisingly high kinetic energy release in the intense-field fragmentation of D[subscript 3][superscript +] to D[superscript +] + D[superscript +] + D with 10[superscript 16]Wcm[superscript −2], 790 nm, 40 fs (and 7 fs) laser pulses. This feature strongly mimics the behaviour of the D[superscript +] + D[superscript +] + D[superscript +] channel. From the experimental evidence, we conclude that the origin of the feature is due to frustrated tunnelling ionization, the first observation of this mechanism in a polyatomic system. Furthermore, we unravel evidence of frustrated tunnelling ionization in dissociation, both two-body breakup to D + D[subscript 2][superscript +] and D[superscript +] + D[subscript 2], and three-body breakup to D[superscript +] + D + D
1 kW, 200 mJ picosecond thin-disk laser system
We report on a laser system based on thin-disk technology and chirped pulse amplification, providing output pulse energies of 200 mJ at a 5 kHz repetition rate. The amplifier contains a ring-type cavity and two thin Yb:YAG disks, each pumped by diode laser systems providing up to 3.5 kW power at a 969 nm wavelength. The average output power of more than 1 kW is delivered in an excellent output beam characterized by M2=1.1. The output pulses are compressed to 1.1 ps at full power with a pair of dielectric gratings
- …