158 research outputs found
A compact, multi-pixel parametric light source
The features of a compact, single pass, multi-pixel optical parametric
generator are discussed. Several hundreds of independent high spatial-quality
tunable ultrashort pulses were produced by pumping a bulk lithium triborate
crystal with an array of tightly focussed intense beams. The array of beams was
produced by shining a microlenses array with a large pump beam. Overall
conversion efficiency to signal and idler up to 30% of the pump beam has been
reported. Shot-to-shot energy fluctuation down to 3% was achieved for the
generated radiation.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures, submitted to "Optics Communications
-enhanced grey molasses on the transition of Rubidium-87 atoms
Laser cooling based on dark states, i.e. states decoupled from light, has
proven to be effective to increase the phase-space density of cold trapped
atoms. Dark-states cooling requires open atomic transitions, in contrast to the
ordinary laser cooling used for example in magneto-optical traps (MOTs), which
operate on closed atomic transitions. For alkali atoms, dark-states cooling is
therefore commonly operated on the transition . We show that, for , thanks to the large hyperfine
structure separations the use of this transition is not strictly necessary and
that quasi-dark state cooling is efficient also on the line, . We report temperatures as low as K and an increase of almost an order of magnitude in the phase space
density with respect to ordinary laser sub-Doppler cooling
Integrated optics prototype beam combiner for long baseline interferometry in the L and M bands
In the last few years, integrated optics (IO) beam combiners have facilitated
the emergence of 4-telescope interferometers such as PIONIER or GRAVITY,
boosting the imaging capabilities of the VLTI. However, the spectral range
beyond 2.2microns is not ideally covered by the conventional silica based IO.
Here, we propose to consider new laser-written IO prototypes made of GLS
glasses, a material that permits access to the mid-infrared spectral regime.
Our goal is to conduct a full characterization of our mid-IR IO 2-telescope
coupler in order to measure the performance levels directly relevant for
long-baseline interferometry. We focus in particular on the exploitation of the
L and M astronomical bands. We use a dedicated Michelson-interferometer setup
to perform Fourier Transform spectroscopy on the coupler and measure its
broadband interferometric performance. We also analyze the polarization
properties of the coupler, the differential dispersion and phase degradation as
well as the modal behavior and the total throughput. We measure broadband
interferometric contrasts of 94.9% and 92.1% for unpolarized light in the L and
M bands. Spectrally integrated splitting ratios are close to 50% but show
chromatic dependence over the considered bandwidths. Additionally, the phase
variation due to the combiner is measured and does not exceed 0.04rad and
0.07rad across the band L and M band, respectively. The total throughput of the
coupler including Fresnel and injection losses from free-space is 25.4%. The
laser-written IO GLS prototype combiners prove to be a reliable technological
solution with promising performance for mid-infrared long-baseline
interferometry. In the next steps, we will consider more advanced optical
functions as well as a fiber-fed input and revise the optical design parameters
in order the further enhance the total throughput and achromatic behavior
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