Analysing

the eect of second and third order chroma>c dispersion on ultrafast laser pulses
for applica>ons in high speed lock-in spectroscopy
S. Ramshanker, E. Pavlenko, T.K.Allison
Abstract Experimental Setups Third Order Dispersion
We are developing a high speed lock-in spectrometer for ultrafast pump- Experiment 1 Experiment 2 Linear Shifting
The method:
probe experiments. The rst step to accomplish this experimentally is to send Step 1: Plot >me-domain signal
pulses into a highly dispersive 2 km op>cal ber, wherein they undergo over the op>cal spectrum
chroma>c dispersion, causing the individual wavelengths to be separated in Step 2: Linearly transform >me-
the >me domain. My project focuses on analyzing the spectrum of the laser domain signal to op>mize the
pulse in frequency and >me domain, before and aZer it propagates through Fig.6. A schema>c of the experimental set-up that
overlap
Fig.6. A schema>c and image of
this dispersive medium. causes chroma>c dispersion the >me of ight experiment As
seen by Fig 11, the two spectra
Introduc>on Second Order Dispersion do not overlap perfectly. This
indicates that high order
Pump Probe Ultrafast Spectroscopy Simulating Pulse Broadening [1,2] dispersion terms have to be taken
This is a spectroscopic technique into account
for studying molecular dynamics, Fig. 11. Measured Wavelength and Temporal Spectra.
such as the vibra>on of hydrogen
bonds in water molecules. Non-linear shifting (Experiment 2)
Fig.1. A schema>c represen>ng the pump The method: Step 3: Using the quadra>c func>on,
probe spectroscopy technique Step 1: Plot the op>cal and temporal convert the >me-domain signal to
(a)
Chromatic Dispersion spectra for the individual wavelengths wavelength

Chroma>c Dispersion occurs when the Step 2: Derive a quadra>c func>on for Step 4: Plot the original op>cal
the maximum value for wavelength and spectrum over the derived op>cal
group velocity of the laser pulse varies intensity for each peak spectrum
depending on wavelength as it travels
through an op>cal medium (Fig 2). Fig. 7. The measured op>cal spectrum and the Fig. 8. The measured >me-domain signal and the
Gaussian approxima>on Gaussian approxima>on
(b) It is mathema>cally represented by the following
= D L
func>on:

1.7 ps
The calculated and experimental values are approximately the same indica>ng that the
Fig.2. Time-domain signal for ultrafast
mathema>cal model is a good approxima>on for second order dispersion.
lasers (a) before and (b) aZer chroma>c Fig. 12. Op>cal Spectra separated by Fig. 13. Temporal Spectra separated by
k= wave vector
dispersion Going from time to frequency individual wavelengths individual wavelengths
Logo for secondary ins>tu>on
Without Dispersion A program was wriVen to convert the spectrum from >me to frequency so that the measured
if appropriate
The method: >me-domain signal can be validated and higher order dispersion can be accounted for .
Step 1: Convert op>cal spectrum to frequency
domain The method:
Step 2: Determine temporal waveform from
frequency spectrum using the inverse Fourier
Transform
Step 3: Calculate the full width half maximum
[FWHM] to determine the transform limited Fig. 14. A scaVer plot and quadra>c t for Fig. 15. Measured op>cal spectrum and
waveform of the pulse peaks of temporal and op>cal spectrum derived op>cal spectrum
Fig.3. The measured op>cal spectrum The overlap between the two was op>mized by the nonlinear shiZ. This
before bre indicated the eect of third order dispersion. However, two outliers were
removed during the calcula>on so further inves>ga>on needs to be done.
References
[1] Govind P. Agarwal, Fiber-Op>c Communica>on Systems, Fourth Edi>on.
[2] Govind P. Agarwal, Nonlinear Fiber Op>cs, Fourth Edi>on.
Fig. 9. The stretched and unstretched >me- Fig. 10. The frequency spectrum of the pulse
domain signal of an arbitrary Gaussian train before and aZer going through the ber Acknowledgments
Fig.5. The calculated >me-domain signal This program works eec>vely for several arbitrary pulses, including the Gaussian train Thank you to Prof. Thomas Allison and Dr. Elena Pavlenko for all their
for no dispersion
shown above. However, because the dispersion causes the pulse to stretch from 0.1 ps to guidance and support throughout the project. This project was supported by
Based on a Gaussian Approxima>on, the
Fig.4. The calculated frequency spectrum minimum dura>on of the pulse in >me 1.7 ns, a high frequency resolu>on (about 8 million points) is required to accurately process the Simons Summer Research Program and the Na>onal Science Founda>on
before bre (FWHM) is approximately 0.1 ps. the experimental data. (Grant number 1708743 and 1404296).