Abstract

A very high temporal resolution and a broad bandwidth are but two advantages provided by the use of extremely short sub-5-fs pulses [1] in a nonlinear spectroscopic experiment. However, the applicability of the standard theoretical description becomes questionable for the pulses that consist merely of a couple of optical oscillations. For instance, the conventionally employed slowly varying envelope approximation, implying that the change of the pulse amplitude on the duration of an optical cycle is negligible compared to the magnitude of the amplitude itself, can no longer be maintained. Furthermore, the phase-matching bandwidth that is limited due to dispersion in the nonlinear medium rapidly gains importance with the increase of the spectral width of the pulse. Another point of serious concern is the frequency-dependent variation in the sensitivity of signal photodetectors. In combination, the above listed features result in what is known as a spectral-filter effect. Finally, artificial lengthening of the experimental transients is a direct consequence of the noncollinear geometry employed in spectroscopic experiments.

© 2000 IEEE