Optical pulses

Bursts of electromagnetic radiation of finite duration. Optical pulses are used to transmit information or to record the chronology of physical events. The simplest example is the photographic flash. This was probably first developed by early photographers who used flash powder that, when ignited, produced a short burst of intense light. This was followed by the flash lamp, in which a tube filled with an inert gas such as xenon is excited by a brief electrical pulse. A great advance in the creation of short optical pulses came with the invention of the laser. Lasers are now the most common and effective way of generating a variety of short optical pulses, of different durations, energies, and wavelengths. See Laser

Pulses of millisecond (10^-3 s) duration are very simply generated by mechanically modulating a constant light source such as a lamp or a continuous-wave laser. This can be done, for example, by placing a rotating disk with holes in it in front of the light source. Shorter laser pulses, of microsecond (10^-6 s) or nanosecond (10^-9 s) duration, are generated by using a technique known as Q-switching. A modulating device is incorporated inside the laser cavity that allows the buildup of the laser radiation inside the cavity and then switches it out in an instant. The modulating device is usually controlled by external electrical pulses. Semiconductor diode lasers, which are used to transmit information (voice or data) over a fiber-optic cable, are pumped by electricity and can be directly pulsed by applying to them a pulsed electrical signal. See Optical fibers

Ultrashort laser pulses, with durations of the order of picoseconds (1 ps = 10^-12 s) or femtoseconds (1 fs = 10^-15 s), are generated by using a general principle known as mode locking, whereby several frequency modes of the laser structure are made to resonate simultaneously and with a well-orchestrated relationship so as to form a short-duration pulse at the laser output.

Pulses as short as 11 fs have been produced directly by a passively mode-locked titanium:sapphire laser. The titanium:sapphire laser has also allowed the extension of ultrashort optical pulses to other wavelength ranges, such as the near-infrared (2–10 μm). Dye lasers, based on organic dyes in solution, have achieved durations as short as 27 fs. Ultrashort diode laser pulses have been obtained by active and passive mode locking and produce pulses as short as a few hundred femtoseconds. They are more commonly operated so as to give rise to pulses in the picosecond range, appropriate for optical communication systems.

The generation of ultrashort laser pulses has been motivated by the quest for ever better resolution in the study of the temporal evolution and dynamics of physical systems, events, and processes. Such laser pulses are capable of creating snapshots in time of many events that occur on the atomic or molecular scale, a technique known as time-resolved spectroscopy. This stroboscopic aspect of ultrashort laser pulses is their most important scientific application and is used in physics, engineering, chemistry, and biology. For example, ultrashort pulses can excite and take snapshots of molecular vibrations and deformations. They can track the passage of charge carriers through a microscopic semiconductor device. This ability to understand the dynamics of the more elemental building blocks of nature can in turn make it possible to build ever faster devices for use in information processing and information transmission, in addition to providing a better understanding of the physical world. See Laser spectroscopy

单词	optical pulses
释义	Optical pulses Optical pulses Bursts of electromagnetic radiation of finite duration. Optical pulses are used to transmit information or to record the chronology of physical events. The simplest example is the photographic flash. This was probably first developed by early photographers who used flash powder that, when ignited, produced a short burst of intense light. This was followed by the flash lamp, in which a tube filled with an inert gas such as xenon is excited by a brief electrical pulse. A great advance in the creation of short optical pulses came with the invention of the laser. Lasers are now the most common and effective way of generating a variety of short optical pulses, of different durations, energies, and wavelengths. See Laser Pulses of millisecond (10^-3 s) duration are very simply generated by mechanically modulating a constant light source such as a lamp or a continuous-wave laser. This can be done, for example, by placing a rotating disk with holes in it in front of the light source. Shorter laser pulses, of microsecond (10^-6 s) or nanosecond (10^-9 s) duration, are generated by using a technique known as Q-switching. A modulating device is incorporated inside the laser cavity that allows the buildup of the laser radiation inside the cavity and then switches it out in an instant. The modulating device is usually controlled by external electrical pulses. Semiconductor diode lasers, which are used to transmit information (voice or data) over a fiber-optic cable, are pumped by electricity and can be directly pulsed by applying to them a pulsed electrical signal. See Optical fibers Ultrashort laser pulses, with durations of the order of picoseconds (1 ps = 10^-12 s) or femtoseconds (1 fs = 10^-15 s), are generated by using a general principle known as mode locking, whereby several frequency modes of the laser structure are made to resonate simultaneously and with a well-orchestrated relationship so as to form a short-duration pulse at the laser output. Pulses as short as 11 fs have been produced directly by a passively mode-locked titanium:sapphire laser. The titanium:sapphire laser has also allowed the extension of ultrashort optical pulses to other wavelength ranges, such as the near-infrared (2–10 μm). Dye lasers, based on organic dyes in solution, have achieved durations as short as 27 fs. Ultrashort diode laser pulses have been obtained by active and passive mode locking and produce pulses as short as a few hundred femtoseconds. They are more commonly operated so as to give rise to pulses in the picosecond range, appropriate for optical communication systems. The generation of ultrashort laser pulses has been motivated by the quest for ever better resolution in the study of the temporal evolution and dynamics of physical systems, events, and processes. Such laser pulses are capable of creating snapshots in time of many events that occur on the atomic or molecular scale, a technique known as time-resolved spectroscopy. This stroboscopic aspect of ultrashort laser pulses is their most important scientific application and is used in physics, engineering, chemistry, and biology. For example, ultrashort pulses can excite and take snapshots of molecular vibrations and deformations. They can track the passage of charge carriers through a microscopic semiconductor device. This ability to understand the dynamics of the more elemental building blocks of nature can in turn make it possible to build ever faster devices for use in information processing and information transmission, in addition to providing a better understanding of the physical world. See Laser spectroscopy
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