Thomas Planchon - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Thomas Planchon

Optics Letters, 2004

We report the measurement of spatiotemporal distortions of an ultrashort pulse in singlet beam ex... more We report the measurement of spatiotemporal distortions of an ultrashort pulse in singlet beam expanders. With a simple second-order autocorrelator the temporal broadening of the pulse from 23 to 40 fs, due to propagation time difference (PTD), is determined. The delay due to PTD between different parts of the beam is also measured. This effect was theoretically studied for the first time by Bor [J. Mod. Opt. 35, 1907 (1988)]. These experimental results are in good agreement with the calculations of a dedicated three-dimensional ray-tracing program developed to simulate the spatial and temporal transformation of femtosecond pulses in optical systems.

Optics Communications, 2003

We studied the possibility of focusing an ultra-intense laser beam with a spherical mirror instea... more We studied the possibility of focusing an ultra-intense laser beam with a spherical mirror instead of a parabolic mirror. To correct the induced wavefront aberrations, we used a deformable mirror in a closed-loop configuration with a Shack-Hartmann Wavefront Sensor (SHWS). We demonstrate in this paper that we were able to correct the aberrations induced by spherical mirrors down to an f-number equal to 3.3.

We are using 2-dimensional spectral interferometry for sensitive measurements of spatial phase di... more We are using 2-dimensional spectral interferometry for sensitive measurements of spatial phase distortions. The reference pulse and the time-delayed probe pulse are coincident on an imaging spectrometer, yielding spectral and spatial phase information. This technique offers the potential of higher sensitivity than traditional spatial interferometry since there are many fringes of data for each spatial point. We illustrate this technique with measurements of the thermal lensing profile in a cryogenically cooled Ti:sapphire amplifier crystal that is pumped by tens of watts of power from four frequency-doubled Nd:YLF lasers running at 1 kHz. By adjusting the relative delay of the probe and reference pulses, we characterize the thermal transients during and after the pump pulses. We compare the measured transient thermal profiles with those calculated with a finite-element model.

We have developed a 2 stage amplifier for ultrafast that will deliver 20mJ, 20fs laser pulses at ... more We have developed a 2 stage amplifier for ultrafast that will deliver 20mJ, 20fs laser pulses at a repetition rate of 1kHz. The novel power amplifier is pumped by up to 100W from 4 pump lasers, necessitating cryogenic cooling of the amplifier crystal. In collaboration with ...

Novel Optical Systems Design and Optimization VII, 2004

We have simulated Chirped Pulse Amplification process with a new software, allowing to extend the... more We have simulated Chirped Pulse Amplification process with a new software, allowing to extend the generally used 1D-models. We show here the importance of the beam spatial discretization in simulations in order to describe the gain saturation. Experimental measurements performed on our 100 TW laser validate this calculation, allowing us to carefully design the next generation of Ti:sapphire lasers at

CLEO/Europe. 2005 Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics Europe, 2005., 2005

We have studied and designed an optical solutions to homogenize and shape the spatial profile of ... more We have studied and designed an optical solutions to homogenize and shape the spatial profile of intense nanosecond pump beams to be used for a Petawatt-class Ti:sapphire amplifier. Simulations and experimental results will be presented.

2008 Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics, 2008

Frontiers in Optics 2007/Laser Science XXIII/Organic Materials and Devices for Displays and Energy Conversion, 2007

ABSTRACT

2007 Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics (CLEO), 2007

With 2D spectral interferometry we characterize the transient thermal lensing in a liquid-nitroge... more With 2D spectral interferometry we characterize the transient thermal lensing in a liquid-nitrogen cooled cryostat designed for high thermal load. Even though the repetition rate is 1kHz, we observe substantial cooling between shots.

International Conference on Ultrafast Phenomena, 2010

ABSTRACT We use time-domain Spatially and Spectrally Resolved Interferometry (SSRI) to characteri... more ABSTRACT We use time-domain Spatially and Spectrally Resolved Interferometry (SSRI) to characterize nonlinear lensing, cross-polarized wave generation and ionization induced defocusing. SSRI yields t- and ω-dependent wavefronts and can measure ultrafast material response.

Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics 2010, 2010

... Opt. Lett. 1995 20 (1). 2. Felber, FS Physics of Fluids 1980 23 (7): 1410-1414. 3. Eaton, HK,... more ... Opt. Lett. 1995 20 (1). 2. Felber, FS Physics of Fluids 1980 23 (7): 1410-1414. 3. Eaton, HK, Clement, TS, et al. IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics 1999 35 (4): 451-458. 4. Bernstein, AC, Luk, TS et al. Appl. Phys. B 2002 75 (119-122). 2 a2898_1.pdf OSA / CLEO/QELS 2010 ...

2007 Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics (CLEO), 2007

We present a two-photon absorption scanning microscope capable of imaging two or more focal plane... more We present a two-photon absorption scanning microscope capable of imaging two or more focal planes simultaneously. We modify the microscope's excitation path, and use photon counting, to separate different depth images through their relative timing.

2007 Quantum Electronics and Laser Science Conference, 2007

We describe preliminary experiences to validate correction of wavefront aberrations in middle of ... more We describe preliminary experiences to validate correction of wavefront aberrations in middle of laser chain. This technique allows correction of aberrations from first part, and the pre-compensation of aberrations built in second part of laser.

Optics express, Jan 10, 2008

The transient thermal lensing in a liquid-nitrogren cooled kilohertz multipass amplifier is quant... more The transient thermal lensing in a liquid-nitrogren cooled kilohertz multipass amplifier is quantitatively measured with spatially-resolved Fourier transform spectral interferometry. A pump-probe arrangement allows the observation of a polarization-dependent non-thermal component following the fluorescence timescale: additional cooling would not suppress this residual lensing. We also observe a time-dependent thermal component that has a timescale sufficiently fast to indicate that there is cooling between shots even at a repetition rate of 1 kHz. The value of pump-induced lensing would be underestimated when performing time-averaged measurements of pump-induced phase shifts.

Frontiers in Optics 2008/Laser Science XXIV/Plasmonics and Metamaterials/Optical Fabrication and Testing, 2008

ABSTRACT Nonlinear propagation through optically transparent media is characterized using spatial... more ABSTRACT Nonlinear propagation through optically transparent media is characterized using spatially resolved spectral interferometry. Spatio-temporal coupling given by the nonlinear effect is quantified and several methods are compared to show their respective advantages.

We are using 2-dimensional spectral interferometry for sensitive measurements of spatial phase di... more We are using 2-dimensional spectral interferometry for sensitive measurements of spatial phase distortions. The reference pulse and the time-delayed probe pulse are coincident on an imaging spectrometer, yielding spectral and spatial phase information. This technique offers the potential of higher sensitivity than traditional spatial interferometry since there are many fringes of data for each spatial point. We illustrate this technique with measurements of the thermal lensing profile in a cryogenically cooled Ti:sapphire amplifier crystal that is pumped by tens of watts of power from four frequency-doubled Nd:YLF lasers running at 1 kHz. By adjusting the relative delay of the probe and reference pulses, we characterize the thermal transients during and after the pump pulses. We compare the measured transient thermal profiles with those calculated with a finite-element model.

We demonstrate pulse shaping via arbitrary phase modulation with a reflective, 1×4096 element, li... more We demonstrate pulse shaping via arbitrary phase modulation with a reflective, 1×4096 element, liquid crystal spatial light modulator (SLM). The unique construction of this device provides a very high efficiency when the device is used for phase modulation only in a prism based pulse shaper, namely 85%. We also present a single shot characterization of the SLM in the spatial domain and a single shot characterization of the pulse shaper in the spectral domain. These characterization methods provide a detailed picture of how the SLM modifies the spectral phase of an ultrashort pulse.

Optics Letters, 2009

We use collinear spatially resolved spectral interferometery to characterize the nonlinear phase ... more We use collinear spatially resolved spectral interferometery to characterize the nonlinear phase changes experienced by an intense ultrashort pulse propagating in glass. The measurement yields the spectrally dependent wavefront, allowing us to measure the spatial and chromatic aberrations of the nonlinearly induced lens. For these conditions, we find that while the shape of the spatial wavefront follows the beam profile as expected, the spectral dependence of the lensing power is determined by the self-phase modulation. The simultaneous measurement of the nonlinear spatiospectral phase demonstrates how the nonlinear spectral phase is coupled to self-focusing.

Optics Letters, 2004

We report the measurement of spatiotemporal distortions of an ultrashort pulse in singlet beam ex... more We report the measurement of spatiotemporal distortions of an ultrashort pulse in singlet beam expanders. With a simple second-order autocorrelator the temporal broadening of the pulse from 23 to 40 fs, due to propagation time difference (PTD), is determined. The delay due to PTD between different parts of the beam is also measured. This effect was theoretically studied for the first time by Bor [J. Mod. Opt. 35, 1907 (1988)]. These experimental results are in good agreement with the calculations of a dedicated three-dimensional ray-tracing program developed to simulate the spatial and temporal transformation of femtosecond pulses in optical systems.

Optics Communications, 2003

We studied the possibility of focusing an ultra-intense laser beam with a spherical mirror instea... more We studied the possibility of focusing an ultra-intense laser beam with a spherical mirror instead of a parabolic mirror. To correct the induced wavefront aberrations, we used a deformable mirror in a closed-loop configuration with a Shack-Hartmann Wavefront Sensor (SHWS). We demonstrate in this paper that we were able to correct the aberrations induced by spherical mirrors down to an f-number equal to 3.3.

We are using 2-dimensional spectral interferometry for sensitive measurements of spatial phase di... more We are using 2-dimensional spectral interferometry for sensitive measurements of spatial phase distortions. The reference pulse and the time-delayed probe pulse are coincident on an imaging spectrometer, yielding spectral and spatial phase information. This technique offers the potential of higher sensitivity than traditional spatial interferometry since there are many fringes of data for each spatial point. We illustrate this technique with measurements of the thermal lensing profile in a cryogenically cooled Ti:sapphire amplifier crystal that is pumped by tens of watts of power from four frequency-doubled Nd:YLF lasers running at 1 kHz. By adjusting the relative delay of the probe and reference pulses, we characterize the thermal transients during and after the pump pulses. We compare the measured transient thermal profiles with those calculated with a finite-element model.

We have developed a 2 stage amplifier for ultrafast that will deliver 20mJ, 20fs laser pulses at ... more We have developed a 2 stage amplifier for ultrafast that will deliver 20mJ, 20fs laser pulses at a repetition rate of 1kHz. The novel power amplifier is pumped by up to 100W from 4 pump lasers, necessitating cryogenic cooling of the amplifier crystal. In collaboration with ...

Novel Optical Systems Design and Optimization VII, 2004

We have simulated Chirped Pulse Amplification process with a new software, allowing to extend the... more We have simulated Chirped Pulse Amplification process with a new software, allowing to extend the generally used 1D-models. We show here the importance of the beam spatial discretization in simulations in order to describe the gain saturation. Experimental measurements performed on our 100 TW laser validate this calculation, allowing us to carefully design the next generation of Ti:sapphire lasers at

CLEO/Europe. 2005 Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics Europe, 2005., 2005

We have studied and designed an optical solutions to homogenize and shape the spatial profile of ... more We have studied and designed an optical solutions to homogenize and shape the spatial profile of intense nanosecond pump beams to be used for a Petawatt-class Ti:sapphire amplifier. Simulations and experimental results will be presented.

2008 Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics, 2008

Frontiers in Optics 2007/Laser Science XXIII/Organic Materials and Devices for Displays and Energy Conversion, 2007

ABSTRACT

2007 Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics (CLEO), 2007

With 2D spectral interferometry we characterize the transient thermal lensing in a liquid-nitroge... more With 2D spectral interferometry we characterize the transient thermal lensing in a liquid-nitrogen cooled cryostat designed for high thermal load. Even though the repetition rate is 1kHz, we observe substantial cooling between shots.

International Conference on Ultrafast Phenomena, 2010

ABSTRACT We use time-domain Spatially and Spectrally Resolved Interferometry (SSRI) to characteri... more ABSTRACT We use time-domain Spatially and Spectrally Resolved Interferometry (SSRI) to characterize nonlinear lensing, cross-polarized wave generation and ionization induced defocusing. SSRI yields t- and ω-dependent wavefronts and can measure ultrafast material response.

Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics 2010, 2010

... Opt. Lett. 1995 20 (1). 2. Felber, FS Physics of Fluids 1980 23 (7): 1410-1414. 3. Eaton, HK,... more ... Opt. Lett. 1995 20 (1). 2. Felber, FS Physics of Fluids 1980 23 (7): 1410-1414. 3. Eaton, HK, Clement, TS, et al. IEEE Journal of Quantum Electronics 1999 35 (4): 451-458. 4. Bernstein, AC, Luk, TS et al. Appl. Phys. B 2002 75 (119-122). 2 a2898_1.pdf OSA / CLEO/QELS 2010 ...

2007 Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics (CLEO), 2007

We present a two-photon absorption scanning microscope capable of imaging two or more focal plane... more We present a two-photon absorption scanning microscope capable of imaging two or more focal planes simultaneously. We modify the microscope's excitation path, and use photon counting, to separate different depth images through their relative timing.

2007 Quantum Electronics and Laser Science Conference, 2007

We describe preliminary experiences to validate correction of wavefront aberrations in middle of ... more We describe preliminary experiences to validate correction of wavefront aberrations in middle of laser chain. This technique allows correction of aberrations from first part, and the pre-compensation of aberrations built in second part of laser.

Optics express, Jan 10, 2008

The transient thermal lensing in a liquid-nitrogren cooled kilohertz multipass amplifier is quant... more The transient thermal lensing in a liquid-nitrogren cooled kilohertz multipass amplifier is quantitatively measured with spatially-resolved Fourier transform spectral interferometry. A pump-probe arrangement allows the observation of a polarization-dependent non-thermal component following the fluorescence timescale: additional cooling would not suppress this residual lensing. We also observe a time-dependent thermal component that has a timescale sufficiently fast to indicate that there is cooling between shots even at a repetition rate of 1 kHz. The value of pump-induced lensing would be underestimated when performing time-averaged measurements of pump-induced phase shifts.

Frontiers in Optics 2008/Laser Science XXIV/Plasmonics and Metamaterials/Optical Fabrication and Testing, 2008

ABSTRACT Nonlinear propagation through optically transparent media is characterized using spatial... more ABSTRACT Nonlinear propagation through optically transparent media is characterized using spatially resolved spectral interferometry. Spatio-temporal coupling given by the nonlinear effect is quantified and several methods are compared to show their respective advantages.

We are using 2-dimensional spectral interferometry for sensitive measurements of spatial phase di... more We are using 2-dimensional spectral interferometry for sensitive measurements of spatial phase distortions. The reference pulse and the time-delayed probe pulse are coincident on an imaging spectrometer, yielding spectral and spatial phase information. This technique offers the potential of higher sensitivity than traditional spatial interferometry since there are many fringes of data for each spatial point. We illustrate this technique with measurements of the thermal lensing profile in a cryogenically cooled Ti:sapphire amplifier crystal that is pumped by tens of watts of power from four frequency-doubled Nd:YLF lasers running at 1 kHz. By adjusting the relative delay of the probe and reference pulses, we characterize the thermal transients during and after the pump pulses. We compare the measured transient thermal profiles with those calculated with a finite-element model.

We demonstrate pulse shaping via arbitrary phase modulation with a reflective, 1×4096 element, li... more We demonstrate pulse shaping via arbitrary phase modulation with a reflective, 1×4096 element, liquid crystal spatial light modulator (SLM). The unique construction of this device provides a very high efficiency when the device is used for phase modulation only in a prism based pulse shaper, namely 85%. We also present a single shot characterization of the SLM in the spatial domain and a single shot characterization of the pulse shaper in the spectral domain. These characterization methods provide a detailed picture of how the SLM modifies the spectral phase of an ultrashort pulse.

Optics Letters, 2009

We use collinear spatially resolved spectral interferometery to characterize the nonlinear phase ... more We use collinear spatially resolved spectral interferometery to characterize the nonlinear phase changes experienced by an intense ultrashort pulse propagating in glass. The measurement yields the spectrally dependent wavefront, allowing us to measure the spatial and chromatic aberrations of the nonlinearly induced lens. For these conditions, we find that while the shape of the spatial wavefront follows the beam profile as expected, the spectral dependence of the lensing power is determined by the self-phase modulation. The simultaneous measurement of the nonlinear spatiospectral phase demonstrates how the nonlinear spectral phase is coupled to self-focusing.