The rise time of intense radiation determines the maximum field strength atoms can be exposed to before their polarizability dramatically drops due to the detachment of an outer electron. Recent progress in ultrafast optics has allowed the generation of ultraintense light pulses comprising merely a few field oscillation cycles. The arising intensity gradient allows electrons to survive in their bound atomic state up to external field strengths many times higher than the binding Coulomb field and gives rise to ionization rates comparable to the light frequency, resulting in a significant extension of the frontiers of nonlinear optics and (nonrelativistic) high-field physics. Implications include the generation of coherent harmonic radiation up to kiloelectronvolt photon energies and control of the atomic dipole moment on a subfemtosecond $(1{\mathrm{f}\mathrm{s}=10}^{\mathrm{\ensuremath{-}}15}\mathrm{}\mathrm{s})$ time scale. This review presents the landmarks of the 30-odd-year evolution of ultrashort-pulse laser physics and technology culminating in the generation of intense few-cycle light pulses and discusses the impact of these pulses on high-field physics. Particular emphasis is placed on high-order harmonic emission and single subfemtosecond extreme ultraviolet/x-ray pulse generation. These as well as other strong-field processes are governed directly by the electric-field evolution, and hence their full control requires access to the (absolute) phase of the light carrier. We shall discuss routes to its determination and control, which will, for the first time, allow access to the electromagnetic fields in light waves and control of high-field interactions with never-before-achieved precision.

Intense few-cycle laser fields: Frontiers of nonlinear optics

The confinement of light within a hollow core (a large air hole) in a silica-air photonic crystal fiber is demonstrated Only certain wavelength bands are confined and guided down the fiber, each band corresponding to the presence of a full two-dimensional band gap in the photonic crystal cladding Single-mode vacuum waveguides have a multitude of potential applications from ultrahigh-power transmission to the guiding of cold atoms

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/285/5433/1537.full.pdf

Single-Mode Photonic Band Gap Guidance of Light in Air.

A photonic crystal fibre including a plurality of longitudinal holes (220), in which at least some of the holes have a different cross-sectional area in a first region (200) of the fibre, that region having been heat-treated after fabrication of the fibre, from their cross-sectional area in a second region of the fibre (190), wherein the optical properties of the fibre in the heat-treated region (200) are altered by virture of the change in cross-sectional area of holes (230) in that region (200).

Photonic crystal fibres

High-energy 20-fs pulses generated by a Ti:sapphire laser system were spectrally broadened to more than 250 nm by self-phase modulation in a hollow fiber filled with noble gases and subsequently compressed in a broadband high-throughput dispersive system. Pulses as short as 4.5 fs with energy up to 20-microJ were obtained with krypton, while pulses as short as 5 fs with energy up to 70 microJ were obtained with argon. These pulses are, to our knowledge, the shortest generated to date at multigigawatt peak powers.

/pdf/compression-of-high-energy-laser-pulses-below-5-fs-4xiizf2tqa.pdf

Compression of high-energy laser pulses below 5 fs

Phase-matched harmonic conversion of visible laser light into soft x-rays was demonstrated. The recently developed technique of guided-wave frequency conversion was used to upshift light from 800 nanometers to the range from 17 to 32 nanometers. This process increased the coherent x-ray output by factors of 10(2) to 10(3) compared to the non-phase-matched case. This source uses a small-scale (sub-millijoule) high repetition-rate laser and will enable a wide variety of new experimental investigations in linear and nonlinear x-ray science.

https://science.sciencemag.org/content/sci/280/5368/1412.full.pdf

Phase-Matched Generation of Coherent Soft X-rays

The field configurations and propagation constants of the normal modes are determined for a hollow circular waveguide made of dielectric material or metal for application as an optical waveguide. The increase of attenuation due to curvature of the axis is also determined. The attenuation of each mode is found to be proportional to the square of the free-space wavelength λ and inversely proportional to the cube of the cylinder radius a. For a hollow dielectric waveguide made of glass with v = 1.50, λ = 1μ, and a = 1 mm, an attenuation of 1.85 db/km is predicted for the minimum-loss mode, EH 11 . This loss is doubled for a radius of curvature of the guide axis R ≈, 10 km. Hence, dielectric materials do not seem suitable for use in hollow circular waveguides for long distance optical transmission because of the high loss introduced by even mild curvature of the guide axis. Nevertheless, dielectric materials are shown to be very attractive as guiding media for gaseous amplifiers and oscillators, not only because of the low attenuation but also because the gain per unit length of a dielectric tube containing He-Ne “masing” mixture at the right pressure can be considerably enhanced by reducing the tube diameter. In this application, a small guide radius is desirable, thereby making the curvature of the guide axis not critical. For λ = 0.6328μ and optimum radius a = 0.058 mm, a maximum theoretical gain of 7.6 db/m is predicted. It is shown that the hollow metallic circular waveguide is far less sensitive to curvature of the guide axis. This is due to the comparatively large complex dielectric constant exhibited by metals at optical frequencies. For a wavelength λ = 1μ and a radius a = 0.25 mm, the attenuation for the minimum loss TE 01 mode in an aluminum waveguide is only 1.8 db/km. This loss is doubled for a radius of curvature as short as R ≈ 48 meters. For λ = 3μ and a = 0.6 mm, the attenuation of the TE 01 mode is also 1.8 db/km. The radius of curvature which doubles this loss is approximately 75 meters. The

R. A. Schmeltzer

Papers

Hollow metallic and dielectric waveguides for long distance optical transmission and lasers