Mapping anomalous dispersion of air with ultrashort mid-infrared pulses

A V Mitrofanov; A A Voronin; D A Sidorov-Biryukov; M V Rozhko; E A Stepanov; A B Fedotov; V Shumakova; S Ališauskas; A Pugžlys; A Baltuška; A M Zheltikov

doi:10.1038/s41598-017-01598-3

Mapping anomalous dispersion of air with ultrashort mid-infrared pulses

Sci Rep. 2017 May 18;7(1):2103. doi: 10.1038/s41598-017-01598-3.

Authors

A V Mitrofanov^{1

2

3

4}, A A Voronin^{1

2

5

6}, D A Sidorov-Biryukov^{1

2

6}, M V Rozhko^{1

2}, E A Stepanov¹, A B Fedotov^{1

2

5

6}, V Shumakova⁷, S Ališauskas⁷, A Pugžlys⁷, A Baltuška⁷, A M Zheltikov^{8

9

10

11

12}

Affiliations

¹ Russian Quantum Center, ul. Novaya 100, Skolkovo, Moscow Region, 143025, Russia.
² Physics Department, International Laser Center, M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, 119992, Russia.
³ Kurchatov Institute National Research Center, Moscow, 123182, Russia.
⁴ Institute of Laser and Information Technologies, Russian Academy of Sciences, Shatura, Moscow Region, 140700, Russia.
⁵ Department of Physics and Astronomy, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 77843, USA.
⁶ Kazan Quantum Center, A.N. Tupolev Kazan National Research Technical University, Kazan, 420126, Russia.
⁷ Photonics Institute, Vienna University of Technology, Gusshausstrasse 27-387, 1040, Vienna, Austria.
⁸ Russian Quantum Center, ul. Novaya 100, Skolkovo, Moscow Region, 143025, Russia. zheltikov@physics.msu.ru.
⁹ Physics Department, International Laser Center, M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, 119992, Russia. zheltikov@physics.msu.ru.
¹⁰ Kurchatov Institute National Research Center, Moscow, 123182, Russia. zheltikov@physics.msu.ru.
¹¹ Department of Physics and Astronomy, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, 77843, USA. zheltikov@physics.msu.ru.
¹² Kazan Quantum Center, A.N. Tupolev Kazan National Research Technical University, Kazan, 420126, Russia. zheltikov@physics.msu.ru.

Abstract

We present experimental studies of long-distance transmission of ultrashort mid-infrared laser pulses through atmospheric air, probing air dispersion in the 3.6-4.2-μm wavelength range. Atmospheric air is still highly transparent to electromagnetic radiation in this spectral region, making it interesting for long-distance signal transmission. However, unlike most of the high-transmission regions in gas media, the group-velocity dispersion, as we show in this work, is anomalous at these wavelengths due to the nearby asymmetric-stretch rovibrational band of atmospheric carbon dioxide. The spectrograms of ultrashort mid-infrared laser pulses transmitted over a distance of 60 m in our experiments provide a map of air dispersion in this wavelength range, revealing clear signatures of anomalous dispersion, with anomalous group delays as long as 1.8 ps detected across the bandwidth covered by 80-fs laser pulses.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.