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arXiv · 1705.08465

Generation of micro-J pulses in the deep UV at MHz repetition rates

F. Köttig·F. Tani·J. C. Travers·P. St. J. Russell
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Abstract

Although ultraviolet (UV) light is important in many areas of science and technology, there are very few if any lasers capable of delivering wavelength-tunable ultrashort UV pulses at MHz repetition rates. Here we report the generation of deep-UV laser pulses at MHz repetition rates and μJ-energies by means of dispersive wave (DW) emission from self-compressed solitons in gas-filled single-ring hollow-core photonic crystal fiber (SR-PCF). Pulses from an ytterbium fiber laser (~300 fs) are first compressed to ~25 fs in a SR-PCF-based nonlinear compression stage, and subsequently used to pump a second SR-PCF stage for broadband DW generation in the deep UV. The UV wavelength is tunable by selecting the gas species and the pressure. At 100 kHz repetition rate, a pulse energy of 1.05 μJ was obtained at 205 nm (average power 0.1 W), and at 1.92 MHz, a pulse energy of 0.54 μJ was obtained at 275 nm (average power 1.03 W).

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F. Köttig, F. Tani, J. C. Travers, P. St. J. Russell. 2017-05-23. Generation of micro-J pulses in the deep UV at MHz repetition rates. https://doi.org/10.1364/optica.4.001272

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