OPTICAL ASSEMBLY FOR ENLARGING SPECTRAL BANDWIDTHS AND REDUCING ULTRASHORT PULSES

Abstract

An optical arrangement for enlarging spectral bandwidths by nonlinear self-phase modulation for shortening ultrashort pulses using a multipass cell and a nonlinear medium. The nonlinear medium is arranged within the multipass cell, and a laser beam having ultrashort pulses passes through the nonlinear medium multiple times. The laser beam is coupled into the multipass cell by way of a shaping optical unit. The laser beam is shaped into an astigmatic beam and coupled into the multipass cell by way of the shaping optical unit.

Description

Claims

1-12. (canceled)

13. An optical arrangement for enlarging spectral bandwidths by nonlinear self-phase modulation for shortening ultrashort pulses, wherein a multipass cell and a nonlinear medium are used, wherein the nonlinear medium is arranged within the multipass cell, and a laser beam having ultrashort pulses passes through the nonlinear medium multiple times, wherein the laser beam is coupled into the multipass cell by way of a shaping optical unit, wherein the laser beam is shaped into an astigmatic beam and coupled into the multipass cell by way of the shaping optical unit.

14. The optical arrangement as recited in claim 13, wherein the multipass cell is a Herriot multipass cell.

15. The optical arrangement as recited in claim 13, wherein the multipass cell comprises three cylindrical mirrors, wherein the three cylindrical mirrors are designed and arranged such that their curvatures lie in a common xz-plane and their focal planes are situated in a common focal plane, wherein the shaping optical unit is designed and arranged such that the laser beam is transformed into a beam which is collimated in the yz-plane and, in the xz-plane, has a focus in the focal plane, and that the nonlinear medium is positioned in the focal plane or in the vicinity of the focal plane, wherein the x-, y-, z-coordinates form a rectangular xyz-coordinate system.

16. The optical arrangement as recited in claim 15, wherein at least one of the mirrors is provided with a coating for dispersion compensation, such that it acts like a GDD or GTI mirror for compressing the pulses.

17. The optical arrangement as recited in claim 13, wherein the multipass cell consists of three spherical mirrors, wherein the three spherical mirrors are designed and arranged such that they form a White multipass cell and have a common focal plane, wherein the shaping optical unit is designed and arranged such that the laser beam is transformed into an astigmatic beam which is collimated in the yz-plane and has a focus in the xz-plane, or is collimated in the xz-plane and has a focus in the yz-plane, wherein the nonlinear medium is positioned in the focal plane or in the vicinity of the focal plane, wherein the x-, y-, z-coordinates form a rectangular xyz-coordinate system.

18. The optical arrangement as recited in claim 13, wherein the multipass cell consists of two cylindrical mirrors, wherein the two cylindrical mirrors are designed and arranged such that their focus lines lie in the xz-folding plane and in a common focal plane, wherein the shaping optical unit is designed and arranged such that the laser beam is transformed into an astigmatic beam which is collimated in the xz-plane and has a focus in the yz-plane, wherein the nonlinear medium is positioned in the focus plane or in the vicinity of the focus plane, wherein the x-, y-, z-coordinates form a rectangular xyz-coordinate system.

19. The optical arrangement as recited in claim 13, wherein the multipass cell consists of two mirror arrays, wherein each mirror array consists of at least two spherical and concave mirror elements, wherein the spherical mirror elements are identically and concavely curved and their focuses lie in a common plane, wherein the shaping optical unit is designed and arranged such that the laser beam is transformed into an astigmatic beam which is collimated in the yz-plane and, in the xz-plane, has a focus in the plane, or is collimated in the xz-plane and, in the yz-plane, has a focus in the plane, wherein the nonlinear medium is positioned in the plane or in the vicinity of the plane, wherein the x-, y-, z-coordinates form a rectangular xyz-coordinate system.

20. The optical arrangement as recited in claim 13, wherein, in order to increase the beam quality use is made of at least one stop array in the multipass cell, wherein the apertures of the stop array are adapted in terms of their geometry to the beam cross-sections of the respective beam passage locations through the stop array, wherein the stop array is arranged at one or more folding mirror/s and/or in the focal plane and/or in the vicinity of the focal plane.

21. The optical arrangement as recited in claim 20, wherein cross-sections of the aperture of the at least one stop array amount to from 1.3 to 2 times the beam cross-section of the corresponding Gaussian beam.

22. The optical arrangement as recited in claim 13, wherein for pulse compression or pulse shortening of the pulses, gratings, prisms, GDD mirrors and/or GTI mirrors are arranged downstream of the multipass cell on the output side, as viewed in the beam propagation direction.

23. The optical arrangement as recited in claim 13, wherein provision is made of at least one further multipass cell for broadening the spectrum.

24. The optical arrangement as recited in claim 13, wherein at least one further arrangement composed of gratings, prisms, GDD mirrors and/or GTI mirrors is used for pulse shortening.