Mirror-dispersion-controlled OPA: a compact tool for sub-10-fs spectroscopy in the visible

Abstract

We report on a sub-10-fs optical parametric amplifier in the visible, using noncollinear phase matching in β-barium borate, with a pulse compressor made exclusively of chirped dielectric mirrors. We employ mirrors of novel design, providing negative group delay dispersion for bandwidths of over 200 THz, up to the blue-green spectral region. The resulting setup, compact, easy to operate and reliable, is an ideal tool for ultrafast spectroscopy with extremely high time resolution. We use these pulses to observe in the time domain coherent oscillations in organic molecules with period as short as 16 fs. © Springer-Verlag 2000.