Toptica Photonics Ag

Alfred Leitenstorfer

Florian Tauser

Frank Lison

A device for amplifying light pulses has an optical stretcher, in which the light pulses of a pulsed laser light source are temporally stretched, and an optically pumped amplifier fiber, in which the light pulses are amplified and, at the same time, temporally compressed. In order to improve such a system with regard to the pulse duration and the pulse energy that can be achieved, the amplifier fiber has a positive group velocity dispersion, whereby the amplifier fiber has non-linear optical properties, so that the optical spectrum of the light pulses is broadened during the amplification process, taking advantage of non-linear self-phase modulation.

Fiber-optic amplification of light pulses

A device for generating tunable light pulses has a non-linear optical fiber. The optical spectrum of femtosecond light pulses can be modified by this optical fiber, taking advantage of solitonic effects. In order to make available such a device, which makes it possible to vary the pulse energy and the wavelength of the light pulses independently of one another, an optical compressor precedes the non-linear optical fiber.

Generation of tunable light pulses

The invention relates to a device for the production of tuneable light impulses in a visible spectral range, comprising a laser system (LS) which emits femtosecond light impulses in the infrared spectral range, and an optical frequency converter (FC) for converting the wave lengths of the light impulses into the visible spectral range. According to the invention, the wave length of the light impulse emitted by the laser system can be tuned in order to provide said type of device which can be used as a light source for time-resolved fluorescence spectroscopy. Said device also comprises an optical stretcher which enables the duration of the impulse of the frequency converted light impulse to be increased to at least 1 ps.

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Constance, Germany

Alfred Leitenstorfer