Sub-cycle Optical Pulse Shaping by Parametric Beating with Adiabatically Prepared Raman Coherence

Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station, College Station TX

Investigators

Abstract

This project focuses on sub-femtosecond pulse compression and sub-cycle pulse shaping. The essence of the technique is adiabatic preparation of a macroscopic molecular ensemble in a single coherent superposition-state. This preparation is accomplished by two transform-limited nanosecond laser pulses, slightly detuned from the Raman resonance. Then a third, femtosecond laser pulse is applied, with duration a few times longer than the molecular period. Molecular motion modulates this pulse to produce a wide spectrum of discrete sidebands, which can be used to synthesize a short train of single-cycle pulses. The broader impact involves the education of students and numerous potential applications.