Nonlinear-optical spectral transformation of few-cycle laser pulses in photonic-crystal fibers

Abstract

Photonic-crystal fibers with special dispersion profiles are shown to provide a high efficiency of spectral transformation of chirped sub-6âfs Ti:sapphire laser pulses. With the wavelength of zero group-velocity dispersion of the fiber lying within the broad spectrum of the input few-cycle pulse, the output spectra feature well-resolved spectral peaks, indicative of soliton self-frequency shift, four-wave mixing, and Cherenkov emission of dispersive waves. We demonstrate that up to 3% of radiation energy at the output of the fiber can be confined within a spectrally isolated soliton peak centered at 1060nm, which is ideally suited as a seed for Nd:YAG- and ytterbium-based laser devices. © 2005 The American Physical Society.