Ultrashort Laser Pulses I

Description of pulses

Intensity and phase

The instantaneous frequency and group delay

Zeroth and first-order phase

Prof. Rick Trebino

Georgia Tech
www.frog.gatech.edu

The linearly chirped Gaussian pulse

Neglecting the spatial dependence for

now, the pulse electric field is given by:

Electric field E (t)

An ultrashort laser
pulse has an intensity
and phase vs. time.

I (t )

Time [fs]

E (t )

1
2

Intensity

I (t ) exp{i [0t (t )]} c.c.

Carrier
frequency

Phase

A sharply peaked function for the intensity yields an ultrashort pulse.

The phase tells us the color evolution of the pulse in time.

Removing the 1/2, the c.c., and the

exponential factor with the carrier
frequency yields the complex
amplitude, E(t), of the pulse:

E (t )

I (t ) exp{ i (t )}

Electric field E (t)

The real and complex

pulse amplitudes

I (t )

Time [fs]

This removes the rapidly varying part of the pulse electric field and
yields a complex quantity, which is actually easier to calculate with.

I (t ) is often called the real amplitude, A(t), of the pulse.

Intensity vs. amplitude

The phase
of this pulse
is constant,
(t) = 0,
and is not
plotted.

The intensity of a Gaussian pulse is 2 shorter than its real amplitude.

This factor varies from pulse shape to pulse shape.

Pulse width of the Gaussian pulse

A FWHM (full-width-at-half-maximum) is
the distance between two points where
the intensity of the pulse falls down to
50% of its maximum.

A HWHM (half-width-at-half-maximum) is
the half of the FWHM.

The standard deviation is the point

where the intensity falls down to about
60% of its maximum.

Calculating the intensity and the phase

Its easy to go back and forth between the electric field and the
intensity and phase:
The intensity:

I(t) = |E(t)|2

Also, well stop writing proportional

to in these expressions and take E,
E, I, and S to be the field, intensity,
and spectrum dimensionless
shapes vs. time.

The phase:

Equivalently,

(t) = Im{ln[E(t)]}

E(ti)

Im
i

I
(t )

Im[ E (t )]
(t ) arctan

Re[ E (t )]

(ti)
Re

The Fourier Transform

To think about ultrashort laser pulses, the Fourier Transform
is essential.

E%
( )
E (t )

1
2

E (t ) exp( i t ) dt

E%
( ) exp(i t ) d

We always perform Fourier transforms on the real or complex pulse

electric field, and not the intensity, unless otherwise specified.

The frequency-domain electric field

The frequency-domain equivalents of the intensity and phase
are the spectrum and spectral phase.
Fourier-transforming the pulse electric field:

E (t )
yields:

E%
( )

1
2

I (t ) exp{i [0t (t )]} c.c.

Note that and are different!

1
2

S ( 0 ) exp{i [ ( 0 )]}

1
2

S ( 0 ) exp{i [ ( 0 )]}

The frequency-domain electric field has

positive- and negative-frequency components.

Note that these two terms

are not complex
conjugates of each other
because the FT integral is
the same for each!

The complex frequency-domain pulse

field
Since the negative-frequency component contains the same information as the positive-frequency component, we usually neglect it.
We also center the pulse on its actual frequency, not zero.
So the most commonly used complex frequency-domain pulse field
is:

E%
( )

S ( ) exp{i ( )}

Thus, the frequency-domain electric field also has an intensity and

phase.
S is the spectrum, and is the spectral phase.

The spectrum with and without the

carrier frequency
Fourier transforming E (t) and E(t) yields different functions.

E%
( )

E%
( )

We usually use just

this component.

The spectrum and spectral phase

The spectrum and spectral phase are obtained from the
frequency-domain field the same way the intensity and phase
are from the time-domain electric field.
2
%
S ( ) E ( )

Im[E %
( )]
( ) arctan

%
Re[E ( )]
or

( ) Im ln[E %
( )]

Intensity and phase of a Gaussian

The Gaussian is real, so its phase is zero.
Intensity and Phase

Time domain:
A Gaussian
transforms
to a Gaussian

Frequency domain:
So the spectral phase
is zero, too.

Spectrum and Spectral Phase

The spectral phase of a time-shifted pulse

Recall the Shift Theorem: F

f (t a)

exp(i a) F ( )

Intensity and Phase

Time-shifted
Gaussian pulse
(with a flat phase):

Spectrum and Spectral Phase

So a time-shift
simply adds some
linear spectral
phase to the
pulse!

What is the spectral phase?

The spectral phase is the phase of each frequency in the wave-form.
All of these
frequencies have
zero phase. So
this pulse has:

1
2

( ) = 0

Note that this

wave-form sees
constructive
interference, and
hence peaks, at
t = 0.

4
5
6
0

And it has
cancellation
everywhere else.

Now try a linear spectral phase: ( ) = a .

By the Shift Theorem, a linear spectral phase is just a delay in time.
And this is what occurs!

(1) = 0
(2) = 0.2
(3) = 0.4
(4) = 0.6
(5) = 0.8
(6) =
t

Transforming between wavelength and

frequency
The spectrum and spectral phase vs. frequency differ from
the spectrum and spectral phase vs. wavelength.
The spectral phase is
easily transformed:

( ) (2 c / )

2 c

To transform the spectrum, note that the energy is the same, whether
we integrate the spectrum over frequency or wavelength:

Changing
variables:

S ( ) d

S ( ) d

2 c
S (2 c / )
d
2

d 2 c

d
2

S (2 c / )

2 c
2 d

S ( ) S (2 c / )

2 c
2

The spectrum and spectral phase vs.

wavelength and frequency
Example: A Gaussian spectrum with a linear spectral phase vs.
frequency
vs. Frequency

vs. Wavelength

Note the different shapes of the spectrum and spectral phase

when plotted vs. wavelength and frequency.

Bandwidth in various units

In frequency, by the Uncertainty Principle, a 1-ps pulse has bandwidth:
usingt

= ~1/2 THz

In wave numbers (cm-1), we can write:

c (1/ )

(1/ ) / c

So (1/) = (0.5 1012 /s) / (3 1010 cm/s) or: (1/) = 17 cm-1

In wavelength:
Assuming an
800-nm
wavelength:

1
(1/ ) 2

2 (1/ )

(800 nm)(.8 104 cm)(17 cm 1 )

or:

= 1 nm

The Instantaneous frequency

The temporal phase, (t), contains frequency-vs.-time information.
The pulse instantaneous angular frequency, inst(t), is defined as:

inst (t ) 0

d
dt

This is easy to see. At some time, t, consider the total phase of the
wave. Call this quantity 0:

0 0t (t )

Exactly one period, T, later, the total phase will (by definition) increase
to 0 + 2:

0 2 0 [t T ] (t T )

where (t+T) is the slowly varying phase at the time, t+T. Subtracting
these two equations:

2 0T [ (t T ) (t )]

Instantaneous frequency (contd)

Dividing by T and recognizing that 2/T is a frequency, call it inst(t):

inst(t)=2/T=0[(t+T)(t)]/T
But Tis small, so [(t+T)(t)]/T is the derivative, d/dt.
So were done!
Usually, however, well think in terms of the instantaneous
frequency, inst(t), so well need to divide by 2:
inst(t)=0(d/dt)/2
While the instantaneous frequency isnt always a rigorous quantity,
its fine for ultrashort pulses, which have broad bandwidths.

Group delay
While the temporal phase contains frequency-vs.-time information,
the spectral phase contains time-vs.-frequency information.
So we can define the group delay vs. frequency, tgr ,given by:

tgr=dd

A similar derivation to that for the instantaneous frequency can

show that this definition is reasonable.
Also, well typically use this result, which is a real time (the rads
cancel out), and never d/d,which isnt.
Always remember that tgr is not the inverse of inst(t).

Phase wrapping and unwrapping

Technically, the phase ranges from to . But it often helps to
unwrap it. This involves adding or subtracting 2 whenever theres
a 2 phase jump.
Example: a pulse with quadratic phase
Wrapped phase

Note the scale!

Unwrapped phase

The main reason for unwrapping the phase is aesthetics.

Phase-blanking

Without phase blanking

Time or Frequency

Im
S

When the intensity is zero, the phase is

meaningless.
When the intensity is nearly zero, the
phase is nearly meaningless.
Phase-blanking involves simply not plotting the
phase when the intensity is close to zero.

E(i)

(i)
Re

With phase blanking

Time or Frequency

The only problem with phase-blanking is that you have to decide the
intensity level below which the phase is meaningless.

Phase Taylor Series expansions

We can write a Taylor series for the phase, (t), about the timet=0:

t
t2
(t ) 0 1 2
...
1!
2!
where

d
1
dt

is related to the instantaneous frequency.

t 0

where only the first few terms are typically required to describe wellbehaved pulses. Of course, well consider badly behaved pulses,
which have higher-order terms in (t).
Expanding the phase in time is not common because its hard to
measure the intensity vs. time, so wed have to expand it, too.

Frequency-domain phase expansion

Its more common to write a Taylor series for ():

0
( ) 0 1
2
1!
2!
where

d
1
d
d 2
2
d 2

...

is the group delay!

0

is called the group-delay dispersion.

0

As in the time domain, only the first few terms are typically required to
describe well-behaved pulses. Of course, well consider badly behaved
pulses, which have higher-order terms in ().

Zeroth-order phase: the absolute phase

The absolute phase is the same in both the time and frequency
domains.

f (t)exp(i0 ) F( )exp(i0 )

An absolute phase of /2 will turn a cosine carrier wave into a sine.

Its usually irrelevant, unless the pulse is only a cycle or so long.
Different absolute phases
for a four-cycle pulse

Different absolute phases

for a single-cycle pulse

Notice that the two four-cycle pulses look alike, but the three singlecycle pulses are all quite different.

First-order phase in frequency: a shift in time

By the Fourier-transform Shift Theorem, f (t 1 ) F ( )exp(i 1 )
Time domain

Frequency domain

1 0

1 20 fs

Note that 1 does not affect the instantaneous frequency, but the
group delay = 1.

First-order phase in time: a frequency shift

By the Inverse-Fourier-transform Shift Theorem,

F ( 1 ) f (t ) exp( i 1 t )

Time domain

Frequency domain

1 0 / fs

1 .07 / fs

Note that 1 does not affect the group delay, but it does affect the
instantaneous frequency = 1.

Second-order phase: the linearly chirped pulse

A pulse can have a frequency that varies in time.

This pulse increases its frequency linearly in time (from red to blue).
In analogy to bird sounds, this pulse is called a chirped pulse.

Chirp
A chirp is a signal in which the frequency increases or descreases with
time. When the frequency of the light pulse increases, we say the the
pulse is positively chirped. When decreases, we say that the pulse is
negatively chirped.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chirp

The Linearly
Chirped Gaussian
Pulse
We can write a linearly chirped Gaussian pulse mathematically as:
2
2

E (t ) E0 exp (t / G ) exp i 0t t

Gaussian
amplitude

Carrier
wave

Chirp

Note that for > 0, when t < 0, the two terms partially cancel,
so the phase changes slowly with time (so the frequency is low).
And when t > 0, the terms add, and the phase changes more rapidly
(so the frequency is larger).

The instantaneous frequency

vs. time for a chirped pulse
A chirped pulse has:

E (t ) exp i 0t (t )

where:

(t ) t 2

The instantaneous frequency is:

which is:

inst (t ) 0 d / dt

inst (t ) 0 2 t

So the frequency increases linearly with time.

The Negatively Chirped Pulse

We have been considering a pulse whose frequency increases
linearly with time: a positively chirped pulse.
One can also have a negatively
chirped (Gaussian) pulse, whose
instantaneous frequency
decreases with time.
We simply allow to be negative
in the expression for the pulse:
2

E (t ) E0 exp t / G exp i 0t t 2

And the instantaneous frequency will decrease with time:

inst (t ) 0 2 t 0 2 t