Abstract

Ultrafast nonlinear dynamics driven by high-peak-power ultrashort mid-infrared (mid-IR) pulses gives rise to ultrabroadband radiation whose spectrum spans over multiple decades, stretching from the terahertz (THz) to the microwave range. We show that, despite its enormous, multidecade bandwidth, an accurate spectral and spatial-mode characterization of this radiation is possible via a suitable combination of mutually complementary signal-analysis methods borrowed from ultrafast optics, radioelectronics, THz photonics, and microwave engineering. This analysis reveals intense subgigahertz radiation emitted as a part of mid-IR-driven supercontinuum generation and shows that microwave-to-THz field waveforms can almost reach the diffraction limit in their beam focusability, yielding field strengths above ≈3 MV/cm.

Ultraviolet-to-millimeter-band supercontinua driven by ultrashort mid-infrared laser pulses

A. V. Mitrofanov, D. A. Sidorov-Biryukov, M. M. Nazarov, A. A. Voronin, M. V. Rozhko, A. D. Shutov, S. V. Ryabchuk, E. E. Serebryannikov, A. B. Fedotov, and A. M. Zheltikov
Optica 7(1) 15-19 (2020)

Coherently enhanced microwave pulses from midinfrared-driven laser plasmas

A. V. Mitrofanov, D. A. Sidorov-Biryukov, M. M. Nazarov, A. A. Voronin, M. V. Rozhko, A. B. Fedotov, and A. M. Zheltikov
Opt. Lett. 46(5) 1081-1084 (2021)

Ultrashort pulse characterization in the mid-infrared

P. K. Bates, O. Chalus, and J. Biegert
Opt. Lett. 35(9) 1377-1379 (2010)

Angle-resolved multioctave supercontinua from mid-infrared laser filaments

A. V. Mitrofanov, A. A. Voronin, D. A. Sidorov-Biryukov, S. I. Mitryukovsky, M. V. Rozhko, A. Pugžlys, A. B. Fedotov, V. Ya. Panchenko, A. Baltuška, and A. M. Zheltikov
Opt. Lett. 41(15) 3479-3482 (2016)

Generation and complete characterization of intense mid-infrared ultrashort pulses

Cathie Ventalon, James M. Fraser, Jean-Pierre Likforman, D. M. Villeneuve, P. B. Corkum, and Manuel Joffre
J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 23(2) 332-340 (2006)