Effect of two-beam coupling in strong-field optical pump-probe experiments
Genre
Journal ArticleDate
2013-05-02Author
Wahlstrand, JKOdhner, JH
McCole, ET
Cheng, YH
Palastro, JP
Levis, RJ
Milchberg, HM
Permanent link to this record
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12613/5961
Metadata
Show full item recordDOI
10.1103/PhysRevA.87.053801Abstract
Nonlinear optics experiments measuring phase shifts induced in a weak probe pulse by a strong pump pulse must account for coherent effects that only occur when the pump and probe pulses are temporally overlapped. It is well known that a weak probe beam experiences a greater phase shift from a strong pump beam than the pump beam induces on itself. The physical mechanism behind the enhanced phase shift is diffraction of pump light into the probe direction by a nonlinear refractive index grating produced by interference between the two beams. For an instantaneous third-order response, the effect of the grating is to simply double the probe phase shift, but when delayed nonlinearities are considered, the effect is more complex. A comprehensive treatment is given for both degenerate and nondegenerate pump-probe experiments in noble and diatomic gases. Results of numerical calculations are compared to a recent transient birefringence measurement and a recent spectral interferometry experiment. We also present results from two new experiments using spectrally resolved transient birefringence with 800 nm pulses in Ar and air and degenerate chirped pulse spectral interferometry in Ar. Both experiments support the interpretation of the negative birefringence at high intensity as arising from a plasma grating. © 2013 American Physical Society.Citation to related work
American Physical Society (APS)Has part
Physical Review A - Atomic, Molecular, and Optical PhysicsADA compliance
For Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accommodation, including help with reading this content, please contact scholarshare@temple.eduae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
http://dx.doi.org/10.34944/dspace/5943