A simple fiber based light source for femtosecond laser spectroscopy

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The field of Ultrafast Laser Science has paved the way for exploring the science dynamics. The main objective is the generation of extremely short pulses of light. Since the 1980s, ultrafast lasers went from lab specialties to commercial products. In the 1990s, the optical parametric amplifier (OPA) was subsequently developed in order to create tunable pulses. Since 2000, the non-collinear OPA (NOPA) become commercially available to generate very short pulses. In all these sources there are complex beam geometries that require cost, user effort, and result in deviations to pulse quality. In these passive light sources, the typical figures of merit are conversion efficiency, power stability, and perhaps bandwidth. Here, we propose a new technological solution towards generation of short pulses from a femtosecond amplifier. We propose use of a hollow core fiber (HCF) based approach due to its unique design resulting in improved performance in two totally new metrics: phase noise and spatial mode. Our fiber based approach has similar performance to a NOPA, albeit with lower cost and complexity. The key point in our approach is establishing of a path forward to improve two totally new metrics of performance. The improved phase stability gives rise to improvements for modern coherent spectroscopy. The improvements in spatial mode will improve spectroscopy, but are likely to be transformative for microscopy. In this proposal we will fully characterize, optimize, and continue to develop the technology to expand its suitability for a variety of applications, with emphasis on ultrafast laser spectroscopy users. The result will be a new technology suitable for commercialization.