Invited review article: technology for attosecond science

We describe a complete technological system at Imperial College London for Attosecond Science studies. The system comprises a few-cycle, carrier envelope phase stabilized laser source which delivers sub 4 fs pulses to a vibration-isolated attosecond vacuum beamline. The beamline is used for the generation of isolated attosecond pulses in the extreme ultraviolet (XUV) at kilohertz repetition rates through laser-driven high harmonic generation in gas targets. The beamline incorporates: interferometers for producing pulse sequences for pump-probe studies; the facility to spectrally and spatially filter the harmonic radiation; an in-line spatially resolving XUV spectrometer; and a photoelectron spectroscopy chamber in which attosecond streaking is used to characterize the attosecond pulses. We discuss the technology and techniques behind the development of our complete system and summarize its performance. This versatile apparatus has enabled a number of new experimental investigations which we briefly describe.     

A flexible apparatus for attosecond photoelectron spectroscopy of solids and surfaces

We describe an apparatus for attosecond photoelectron spectroscopy of solids and surfaces, which combines the generation of isolated attosecond extreme-ultraviolet (XUV) laser pulses by high harmonic generation in gases with time-resolved photoelectron detection and surface science techniques in an ultrahigh vacuum environment. This versatile setup provides isolated attosecond pulses with photon energies of up to 140 eV and few-cycle near infrared pulses for studying ultrafast electron dynamics in a large variety of surfaces and interfaces. The samples can be prepared and characterized on an atomic scale in a dedicated flexible surface science end station. The extensive possibilities offered by this apparatus are demonstrated by applying attosecond XUV pulses with a central photon energy of ～125 eV in an attosecond streaking experiment of a xenon multilayer grown on a Re(0001) substrate.     

A compact collinear polarization gating scheme for many cycle laser pulses

We demonstrate the generation of a broadband coherent continuum extreme-ultraviolet (XUV) radiation produced by the interaction of gases with a many-cycle infrared (IR) laser field, utilizing a compact collinear many cycle-polarization gating (CMC-PG) device. The spectral width of the XUV radiation can support isolated pulses of 200 asec duration. The CMC-PG device forms a high energy content ultra-short temporal gate in a many-cycle laser pulse, within which the XUV emission is taking place. The gate width has been measured and is in agreement with the theoretical calculations. The simplicity, the compactness, the long term stability, and the high IR energy output within the gate, make the CMC-PG device an ideal tool for generating energetic isolated attosecond pulses and measure the carrier-envelope phase of a high-power many-cycle laser field.     

Compact multiphoton/single photon laser scanning microscope for spectral imaging and fluorescence lifetime imaging

An inverted fluorescence microscope was upgraded into a compact three-dimensional laser scanning microscope (LSM) of 65 x 62 x 48 cm dimensions by means of a fast kHz galvoscanner unit, a piezodriven z-stage, and a picosecond (ps) 50 MHz laser diode at 405 nm. In addition, compact turn-key near infrared femtosecond lasers have been employed to perform multiphoton fluorescence and second harmonic generation (SHG) microscopy. To expand the features of the compact LSM, a time-correlated single photon counting unit as well as a Sagnac interferometer have been added to realize fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLIM) and spectral imaging. Using this unique five-dimensional microscope, TauMap, single-photon excited (SPE), and two-photon excited (TPE) cellular fluorescence as well as intratissue autofluorescence of water plant leaves have been investigated with submicron spatial resolution, <270 ps temporal resolution, and 10 nm spectral resolution.     

Scanning of the internal structure part with laser ultrasonic in aviation industry

The detection of internal defects is a major production and safety issue for the newest generations of aircraft. New materials and manufacturing processes in the aircraft industry demand efficient quality assurance in manufacturing and inspection in maintenance. Advanced metallic material processes (titanium) are used or developed for the production of heavily loaded flying components (in fan blade construction). The inspection of these parts mainly made out of titanium (or CFRP) requires the determination of the percentage of bonded grain sizes around 10-30?μm. This is primarily due to the advantages of a high signal-to-noise ratio and good detection sensitivity. In this article, a diagnosing method of the blade interior by means of the laser ultrasonic is presented. Identification of small fatigue cracks presents a challenging problem during nondestructive testing of fatigue-damaged structures. Laser ultrasonic is a technique that uses two laser beams; one with a short pulse for the generation of ultrasound and another with a long pulse or continuous coupled to an optical interferometer for detection. The results of research of the internal blade structure are presented.     

Laser interferometer for measuring the mass velocity of condensed substances in shock-wave experiments on the TWAC-ITEP proton-radiographic facility

The results of development of a laser interferometer designed for measuring the mass velocity of condensed substances in shock-wave experiments in the field of high-energy-density physics are presented. The interferometer is incorporated in the measuring complex of the TWAC-ITEP proton-radiographic facility. The developed laser system allows measurements of the velocity of free surfaces of samples in shock-wave experiments with an error no worse than 10 m/s for the entire range of velocities attained experimentally. The time resolution of measurements is limited by the response speed of the used PMTs and amounts to 2.5 ns. Combined investigations of shock-wave loading of metal targets and scabbing-fracture and jet-formation processes on free metal surfaces were performed by the proton-radiography and laser-interferometry methods.     

Polarized light interferometer for laser fusion studies

A polarized light interferometer, suitable for the high-speed photography of microscopic objects in laser fusion experiments, is described. Based on a Wollaston prism as beam splitter, its main advantages are its relative simplicity, the absence of alignment and stability problems, and the extended spectral range down to 0.18 mum wavelength. The interferometer has been successfully applied in CO(2) and neodymium laser plasma interaction studies with laser illumination at 0.694 mum (ruby laser) and 0.265 mum (4th harmonic of the Nd(3+) laser) wavelength.     

Instantaneous laser Doppler velocimeter using a fast wavelength tracking Michelson interferometer

A new species of laser Doppler velocimeter is presented based on wavelength detection with a two-beam interferometer. A finite optical path difference, Deltaphi, of the interferometer creates a sensitivity of the interference to wavelength changes. By means of a fast feedback system, the phase, Deltaphi/lambda is kept constant. Wavelength changes are immediately answered by changes of Deltaphi generated with a Pockels cell. The Pockels cell voltage represents a continuous signal proportional to the instantaneous velocity component of the scattering object. A time resolution of 1 micros or lower can be obtained. The field of applications includes velocity recordings in gas flows containing tracer particles as well as velocity recordings of moving surfaces. A number of experiments are described demonstrating the performance of the system.     

适合于微细加工的外差探测技术及应用

本文详细地讨论了外差干涉仪的两个主要问题,即干涉仪的横向定位问题和非线性误差分析及其误差补偿问题.首先,提出了一种新颖的解析方法实现干涉仪亚微米级的高精度定位.该方法首先建立了测量光束扫过台阶边缘时测量相位渐变数学模型,并讨论了它与激光束分布的关系.文章利用以上数学模型对测量相位数据进行了详细地分析,实现了在一般激光束径时,干涉仪的定位精度为亚微米量级.另一方面,文章详细地分析了共光路干涉仪三个主要误差源.分析结果表明:由Wollaston棱镜引起的误差主要是二阶误差,而由激光束的椭圆偏振化引起的误差为一阶误差.同时我们发现:金属反射镜的方位误差可以使线偏振光经反射后变为椭圆偏振光,该椭圆偏振光具有不正交性和不相等偏心度,文章首次详细地分析了这种不正交性和不相等偏心度与反射镜方位误差的关系及其由此产生的非线性误差.最后,文章分析了干涉仪的误差补偿措施以提高整个干涉仪的测量精度.     

Problems regarding linearity of data of a laser interferometer with a single-frequency laser

In this paper, the main causes of scale nonlinearity of a laser interferometer with a single-frequency laser and a quadrature fringe detection system are described. The primary causes of scale nonlinearity are quadrature phase shift error and imperfect optical elements in the interferometer and detection unit. A method for measuring this nonlinearity with an optical compensator is described. Nonlinearities arising from quadrature phase shift error, unequal amplitudes, and electronic offsets in the detection unit can be compensated by means of a PC program as described herein. By using a differential interferometer with a resolution of 0.3 nm, the nonlinearity compensation was experimentally verified, and by averaging the measured values for 20 s, a linearity better than ±0.5 nm was achieved.     

Green and ultraviolet pulse generation with a compact, fiber laser, chirped-pulse amplification system for aerosol fluorescence measurements

We use a compact chirped-pulse amplified system to harmonically generate ultrashort pulses for aerosol fluorescence measurements. The seed laser is a compact, all-normal dispersion, mode-locked Yb-doped fiber laser with a 1050 nm center wavelength operating at 41 MHz. Average powers of more than 1.2 W at 525 nm and 350 mW at 262 nm are generated with <500?fs pulse durations. The pulses are time-stretched with high-dispersion fiber, amplified by a high-power, large-mode-area fiber amplifier, and recompressed using a chirped volume holographic Bragg grating. The resulting high-peak-power pulses allow for highly efficient harmonic generation. We also demonstrate for the first time to our knowledge, the use of a mode-locked ultraviolet source to excite individual biological particles and other calibration particles in an inlet air flow as they pass through an optical chamber. The repetition rate is ideal for biofluorescence measurements as it allows faster sampling rates as well as the higher peak powers as compared to previously demonstrated Q-switched systems while maintaining a pulse period that is longer than the typical fluorescence lifetimes. Thus, the fluorescence excitation can be considered to be quasicontinuous and requires no external synchronization and triggering.     

Two-color CO2/HeNe laser interferometer for C-2 experiment

A six-channel two-color interferometer has been developed for plasma electron density measurements in the C-2 field reversed configuration experiment. A CO(2) laser is utilized as the main probe beams, while copropagating visible HeNe laser beams are mainly sensitive to vibration. Density measurements in C-2 plasmas have shown that this is a reliable turn-key system. The maximum residual phase noise after vibration compensation is less than ±5°, corresponding to a line integral density of 3×10(18)?m(-2). The time resolution for routine operation is 2?μs.     

A tabletop femtosecond time-resolved soft x-ray transient absorption spectrometer

A laser-based, tabletop instrument is constructed to perform femtosecond soft x-ray transient absorption spectroscopy. Ultrashort soft x-ray pulses produced via high-order harmonic generation of the amplified output of a femtosecond Ti:sapphire laser system are used to probe atomic core-level transient absorptions in atoms and molecules. The results provide chemically specific, time-resolved dynamics with sub-50-fs time resolution. In this setup, high-order harmonics generated in a Ne-filled capillary waveguide are refocused by a gold-coated toroidal mirror into the sample gas cell, where the soft x-ray light intersects with an optical pump pulse. The transmitted high-order harmonics are spectrally dispersed with a homebuilt soft x-ray spectrometer, which consists of a gold-coated toroidal mirror, a uniform-line spaced plane grating, and a soft x-ray charge coupled device camera. The optical layout of the instrument, design of the soft x-ray spectrometer, and spatial and temporal characterizations of the high-order harmonics are described. Examples of static and time-resolved photoabsorption spectra collected on this apparatus are presented.     

Extreme localization of electrons in space and time

Electron emission from sharp metal tips can take place on sub-femtosecond time scales if the emission is driven by few cycle femtosecond laser pulses. Here we outline the experimental prerequisites in detail, discuss emission regimes and relate them to recent experiments in the gas phase (attosecond physics). We present a process that leads to single atom tip emitters that are stable under laser illumination and conclude with a discussion of how to achieve short electron pulses at a target.     

A VISAR two-channel laser interferometric complex for studying properties of materials under shock-wave loading

A two-channel laser interferometric complex intended for measuring the velocities of surfaces in shock-wave experiments is described, and its characteristics are given. The interferometric channels of the complex are constructed according to the VISAR two-arm interferometer scheme. The velocity measurement error is 6–15 m/s in a range up to 3000 m/s, and the time resolution is 2 ns or better. Owing to these characteristics, the complex can be used in experiments on light-gas guns and in explosion experiments for determining dynamic characteristics of structural materials and kinetics of detonation of blasting explosives.     

Pulse shape measurements using single shot-frequency resolved optical gating for high energy (80 J) short pulse (600 fs) laser

Relevant to laser based electron/ion accelerations, a single shot second harmonic generation frequency resolved optical gating (FROG) system has been developed to characterize laser pulses (80 J, ～600?fs) incident on and transmitted through nanofoil targets, employing relay imaging, spatial filter, and partially coated glass substrates to reduce spatial nonuniformity and B-integral. The device can be completely aligned without using a pulsed laser source. Variations of incident pulse shape were measured from durations of 613 fs (nearly symmetric shape) to 571 fs (asymmetric shape with pre- or postpulse). The FROG measurements are consistent with independent spectral and autocorrelation measurements.     

激光干涉仪测量失真正弦波形位移误差估计式

本文在分析介绍了激光干涉仪测量位移原理的基础上,指出了标准振动台稳态正弦绝对校准法中,激光干涉仪测量的只是工作台面运动的路程而非矢量位移,因此对于测量含有谐波失真的正弦波形将引入测量原理性误差。文中利用波形加速度失真度系数详细推导并给出了谐波失真所引入的测量误差的估计式,对准确评价传感器校准精度具有重要意义,同样也有助于我们对激光干涉仪测量精度的认识。     

Three‐dimensional structural imaging of starch granules by second‐harmonic generation circular dichroism

Chirality is one of the most fundamental and essential structural properties of biological molecules. Many important biological molecules including amino acids and polysaccharides are intrinsically chiral. Conventionally, chiral species can be distinguished by interaction with circularly polarized light, and circular dichroism is one of the best‐known approaches for chirality detection. As a linear optical process, circular dichroism suffers from very low signal contrast and lack of spatial resolution in the axial direction. It has been demonstrated that by incorporating nonlinear interaction with circularly polarized excitation, second‐harmonic generation circular dichroism can provide much higher signal contrast. However, previous circular dichroism and second‐harmonic generation circular dichroism studies are mostly limited to probe chiralities at surfaces and interfaces. It is known that second‐harmonic generation, as a second‐order nonlinear optical effect, provides excellent optical sectioning capability when combined with a laser‐scanning microscope. In this work, we combine the axial resolving power of second‐harmonic generation and chiral sensitivity of second‐harmonic generation circular dichroism to realize three‐dimensional chiral detection in biological tissues. Within the point spread function of a tight focus, second‐harmonic generation circular dichroism could arise from the macroscopic supramolecular packing as well as the microscopic intramolecular chirality, so our aim is to clarify the origins of second‐harmonic generation circular dichroism response in complicated three‐dimensional biological systems. The sample we use is starch granules whose second‐harmonic generation‐active molecules are amylopectin with both microscopic chirality due to its helical structure and macroscopic chirality due to its crystallized packing. We found that in a starch granule, the second‐harmonic generation for right‐handed circularly polarized excitation is significantly different from second‐harmonic generation for left‐handed one, offering excellent second‐harmonic generation circular dichroism contrast that approaches 100%. In addition, three‐dimensional visualization of second‐harmonic generation circular dichroism distribution with sub‐micrometer spatial resolution is realized. We observed second‐harmonic generation circular dichroism sign change across the starch granules, and the result suggests that in thick biological tissue, second‐harmonic generation circular dichroism arises from macroscopic molecular packing. Our result provides a new method to visualize the organization of three‐dimensional structures of starch granules. The second‐harmonic generation circular dichroism imaging method expands the horizon of nonlinear chiroptical studies from simplified surface/solution environments to complicated biological tissues.     

Phase-shifting interferometer using a frequency-tunable diode laser calibrated by an optical frequency comb

We present a phase-shifting interferometer based on a frequency-tunable diode laser calibrated by an optical frequency comb and the Carre? algorithm. By use of the frequency control strategies of locking the diode laser to different comb modes and scanning the repetition rate, an arbitrary single optical frequency synthesizer is obtained. The relative laser frequency uncertainty is 5.7 × 10(-12) for 1 s averaging time with tracing to an Rb clock and accurate phase steps are achieved by optical frequency tuning. The surface topography of a standard sphere is measured by this phase-shifting interferometer based on a flat reference. The phase measurement repeatability is λ∕200. With this technique, phase measurement uncertainties from the laser frequency and phase steps are negligible.     

Development of a time-resolved attenuated total reflectance spectrometer in far-ultraviolet region

A far-ultraviolet transient absorption spectrometer based on time-resolved attenuated total reflectance (ATR) has been developed and tested for aqueous solutions of phenol and tryptophan in the region 170-185 nm. In this region, a stable tunable laser was not available, and therefore, white light from a laser-driven Xe lamp source was used. The time resolution, which was determined by the time response of a continuous light detector, was 40 ns. A new ATR cell where a sample liquid is exchanged continuously by a flow system was designed to reduce efficiently the stray light from the excitation light. We have tested the performance of the instrument by using aqueous solutions of phenol and tryptophan, whose photochemistry is already well known. Phenol and tryptophan have very strong absorptions due to a π-π? transition near 180 nm. Even for dilute solutions (10(-3) mol dm(-3)), we could observe decreases in their concentrations due to photochemistry that occurred upon their irradiation with a fourth harmonic generation laser pulse produced by an Nd:YAG laser. The sensitivity of the spectrometer was about 10(-4) abs, which corresponded to a concentration variation of 10(-3) mol dm(-3) for phenol and tryptophan.