Abstract
Ultrafast optical pulses are useful for a range of scientific applications from spectroscopy to surface science. Since ultrafast lasers are limited in pulse duration to 5-7 fs, 1 and high-energy laser amplifiers are limited to ~15 fs, 2 shorter pulses must be created through external pulse compression techniques. The most common configuration is to use self-phase modulation to broaden the pulse spectrum, followed by a negative dispersion element to compress the pulse.3,4 However, these techniques are limited in obtainable pulse duration, particularly at short-wavelengths, by high-order dispersion aberrations. In recent CMX1 Fig. 1. Calculated index of refraction, n(t), as a function of time for rotating C02 molecules at room temperature. The plots show deviations from the average value, (n), where (n)-l = 1.7 x 10 1. years, molecular modulation of light has been considered as an alternative source of phase modulation.5''’ In this work, we demonstrate a new technique that uses the time-dependent index modulation of quantum revivals of molecular rotational wave packets in a molecular gas (C02). This technique has an inherent advantage over SPM techniques in that the spectral broadening can be induced with a negative chirp, allowing for simple pulse compression by propagating through a dispersive medium. This technique differs from Raman techniques previously demonstrated.
© 2002 Optical Society of America
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