2021/10/31 by Tanner T. Simpson, Dillon Ramsey, Philip Franke +6
Physics and Astronomy · #Bandwidth-limited pulse #Coherent control #Femtosecond pulse shaping #Focus (optics) #Laser #Laser-Matter Interactions and Applications #Laser-Plasma Interactions and Diagnostics #Modulation (music) #Orbital Angular Momentum in Optics #Phase modulation #Pulse (music) #Pulse shaping #Ultrashort pulse #physics.optics #physics.plasm-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1364/oe.451123
openalex created_date 2021/11/08 · arxiv created 2021/11/17 · openalex publication_date 2022/01/26 · arxiv updated 2022/03/23 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Spatiotemporal pulse shaping provides control over the trajectory and range of an intensity peak. While this control can enhance laser-based applications, the optical configurations required for shaping the pulse can constrain the transverse or temporal profile, duration, or orbital angular momentum (OAM). Here we present a novel technique for spatiotemporal control that mitigates these constraints by using a "stencil" pulse to spatiotemporally structure a second, primary pulse through cross-phase modulation (XPM) in a Kerr lens. The temporally shaped stencil pulse induces a time-dependent focusing phase within the primary pulse. This technique, the "flying focus X," allows the primary pulse to have any profile or OAM, expanding the flexibility of spatiotemporal pulse shaping for laser-based applications. As an example, simulations show that the flying focus X can deliver an arbitrary-velocity, variable-duration intensity peak with OAM over distances much longer than a Rayleigh range.