Generation and Application of Ultrashort Laser Pulses in Attosecond Science
Author(s)
Frank, Felix
Type
Thesis
Abstract
In this thesis, I describe the development of a sub-4 fs few-cycle laser
system at Imperial College London used to generate and characterise the
first single attosecond (1 as = 10-18s) pulses in the UK.
Phase-stabilised few-cycle laser pulses were generated using a hollow fibre system with a chirped mirror compression setup. The pulse was fully
characterised using frequency-resolved optical gating (FROG) and spectral
phase interferometry for direct electric field reconstruction in a spatially encoded
filter arrangement (SEA-F-SPIDER). A pulse duration of 3.5 fs was
measured with an argon filled hollow fibre.
These phase stabilised Infra-Red (IR) pulses were used to generate a continuous
spectrum of high harmonics in the Extreme Ultraviolet (XUV) originating
from a single half-cycle of the driving field. Using subsequent spectral
filtering, a single attosecond pulse was generated. The isolated XUV pulse
was characterised using an atomic streaking camera and a pulse duration of ~260 as was retrieved using FROG for complete reconstruction of attosecond
bursts (FROG-CRAB).
In an experiment conducted at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, high
harmonics were generated using a two-colour field with an energetic beam at
1300nm and a weak second harmonic orthogonally polarized to the fundamental.
By changing the phase between the two fields, a deep modulation
of the harmonic yield is seen and an enhancement of one order of magnitude
compared to the single colour field with the same energy is observed.
system at Imperial College London used to generate and characterise the
first single attosecond (1 as = 10-18s) pulses in the UK.
Phase-stabilised few-cycle laser pulses were generated using a hollow fibre system with a chirped mirror compression setup. The pulse was fully
characterised using frequency-resolved optical gating (FROG) and spectral
phase interferometry for direct electric field reconstruction in a spatially encoded
filter arrangement (SEA-F-SPIDER). A pulse duration of 3.5 fs was
measured with an argon filled hollow fibre.
These phase stabilised Infra-Red (IR) pulses were used to generate a continuous
spectrum of high harmonics in the Extreme Ultraviolet (XUV) originating
from a single half-cycle of the driving field. Using subsequent spectral
filtering, a single attosecond pulse was generated. The isolated XUV pulse
was characterised using an atomic streaking camera and a pulse duration of ~260 as was retrieved using FROG for complete reconstruction of attosecond
bursts (FROG-CRAB).
In an experiment conducted at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, high
harmonics were generated using a two-colour field with an energetic beam at
1300nm and a weak second harmonic orthogonally polarized to the fundamental.
By changing the phase between the two fields, a deep modulation
of the harmonic yield is seen and an enhancement of one order of magnitude
compared to the single colour field with the same energy is observed.
Date Issued
2011-05
Date Awarded
2011-08
Copyright Statement
Attribution NoDerivatives 4.0 International Licence (CC BY-ND)
Advisor
Tisch, John
Marangos, Jonathan
Creator
Frank, Felix
Publisher Department
Physics
Publisher Institution
Imperial College London
Qualification Level
Doctoral
Qualification Name
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)