What is it about?
The paper is about the development of a high average power femtosecond mid-infrared source which offers a so-far unique combination of brilliance and spectral width. Optical parametric amplification in nonlinear PPLN and LGS crystals was used as well as supercontinuum generation in the highly nonlinear ZGP crystal.
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Why is it important?
The mid-infrared (mIR) spectral range offers a huge potential for applications in spectroscopy which is interesting for physics, chemistry and life sciences. Thermal light sources are often applied in mIR spectroscopy. They provide large spectral widths, but rather low brilliance and limited time resolution. Lasers, on the other hand, present high brightness sources and offer excellent time resolution. They, however, typically lack large spectral widths. The paper demonstrates a light source that combines many advantages of classical thermal and laser sources.
Perspectives
We anticipate that techniques like frequency comb spectroscopy, frequency up-conversion spectroscopy or 2D-IR spectroscopy benefit from mIR sources like presented in the paper and will eventually enable faster and more precise identification of molecules in mixtures as well as a better fundamental understanding of molecular processes where vibrational motion is involved.
Mr Marcus Seidel
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitat Munchen
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Multi-watt, multi-octave, mid-infrared femtosecond source, Science Advances, April 2018, American Association for the Advancement of Science,
DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aaq1526.
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