We present an analytical formalism elucidating how information is stored in chirped optical probes by describing the effects of sinusoidal temporal modulations on the electric field. We show that the modulations produce spectral sidebands which can be interpreted as temporal sidebands due to the time-wavelength mapping, an effect we call temporally encoded spectral shifting (TESS). A derivation...

A novel technique for programming broadband true-time delays that uses two frequency-offset temporally overlapped linear frequency-chirped pulses to produce periodic spectral gratings in an inhomogeneously broadened absorber is presented. Advantages of this technique include its ability to use chirped pulses that are longer than the coherence time of the crystal, less stringent laser frequency-...

We report the observation of self-similar propagation of bound-state pulses in an ytterbium-doped double-clad fiber laser. A bound state of two positively chirped parabolic pulses with 5.4 ps duration separated by 14.9 ps is obtained, with 1.7 nJ of energy per pulse. These pulses are extra-cavity compressed to 100 fs. For higher pumping power and a different setting of the intra-cavity polariza...

We demonstrate a Kerr-lens mode-locked Ti:sapphire oscillator that generates 130-nJ, 26-fs and 220-nJ, 30-fs pulses at a repetition rate of 11 MHz. The generation of stable broadband, high-energy pulses from an extended-cavity oscillator is achieved by the use of chirped multilayer mirrors to produce a small net positive dispersion over a broad spectral range. The resultant chirped picosecond p...

The propagation of strongly chirped pulses in an amplified fiber-optic communications system is experimentally investigated. Spectral narrowing of the pulses is observed. The narrowing is attributed to interplay between the initial chirp and the nonlinearity in the transmission line. Four-wave mixing (FWM) between wavelength channels is found to be similar to that for unchirped nonreturn-to-zer...

6 techniques. Of particular interest is the early response of the molecule and the 7 solvent, which is difficult to study due to the ambiguity in assigning and differ8 entiating interand intra-molecular contributions to the electronic and vibrational 9 populations and coherence. Our measurements compare the yield of fluorescence 10 for two laser dyes IR144 and IR125 as a function of chirp. Whil...

Frequency-resolved optical gating (FROG) measurements were made to characterize pulses from a Ti:sapphire chirped-pulse amplified laser system. By characterizing both the pulse intensity and the phase, the FROG data provided the first direct observation to our knowledge of residual phase distortion in a chirped-pulse amplifier. The FROG technique was also used to measure the regenerative amplif...

The interaction of chirped femtosecond laser pulses with hybrid materials--materials comprised of plasmon sustaining structures and resonant molecules--is scrutinized using a self-consistent model of coupled Maxwell-Bloch equations. The optical properties of such systems are examined with the example of periodic sinusoidal gratings. It is shown that under strong coupling conditions one can cont...

A 2-μm wavelength laser delivering up to 39-mJ energy, ∼10  ps duration pulses at 100-Hz repetition rate is reported. The system relies on chirped pulse amplification (CPA): a modelocked Er:Tm:Ho fiber-seeder is followed by a Ho:YLF-based regenerative amplifier and a cryogenically cooled Ho:YLF single pass amplifier. Stretching and compressing are performed with large aperture chirped volume Br...

We report the demonstration of a diode-pumped chirped pulse amplification Yb:YAG laser that produces λ=1.03  μm pulses of up to 1.5 J energy compressible to sub-5 ps duration at a repetition rate of 500 Hz (750 W average power). Amplification to high energy takes place in cryogenically cooled Yb:YAG active mirrors designed for kilowatt average power laser operation. This compact laser system wi...