Mid-infrared dispersive wave generation in gas-filled photonic crystal fibre by transient ionization-driven changes in dispersion.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 28993618.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-017-00943-4 and PMC identifier 5634423.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Gas-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fibre is being used to generate ever wider supercontinuum spectra, in particular via dispersive wave emission in the deep and vacuum ultraviolet, with a multitude of applications. Dispersive waves are the result of nonlinear transfer of energy from a self-compressed soliton, a process that relies crucially on phase-matching. It was recently predicted that, in the strong-field regime, the additional transient anomalous dispersion introduced by gas ionization would allow phase-matched dispersive wave generation in the mid-infrared-something that is forbidden in the absence of free electrons. Here we report the experimental observation of such mid-infrared dispersive waves, embedded in a 4.7-octave-wide supercontinuum that uniquely reaches simultaneously to the vacuum ultraviolet, with up to 1.7 W of total average power.Dispersive wave emission in gas-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fibres has been possible in the visible and ultraviolet via the optical Kerr effect. Here, Köttig et al. demonstrate dispersive waves generated by an additional transient anomalous dispersion from gas ionization in the mid-infrared.