Monitoring the ultrafast electric field change at a mid-infrared plasma Bragg mirror

Opt Lett. 2001 Oct 15;26(20):1618-20. doi: 10.1364/ol.26.001618.

Abstract

The electric field change of a femtosecond mid-infrared (MIR) pulse reflected by a new type of Bragg mirror is directly measured by time-resolved cross-correlation spectroscopy. The refractive-index contrast of the plasma Bragg mirror is achieved by use of different doping levels of only one type of semiconductor material (n(+) -doped GaAs and undoped GaAs). The direct measurement of the time dependence of the electric field of a reflected MIR pulse permits the observation of a noninstantaneous response of a Bragg mirror compared with a metallic surface, which is due to the penetration of the pulse into the multilayer structure.