Berlin 2012 – scientific programme

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O: Fachverband Oberflächenphysik

O 35: Poster Session II (Polymeric biomolecular films; Nanostructures; Electronic structure; Spin-orbit interaction; Phase transitions; Surface chemical reactions; Heterogeneous catalysis; Particles and clusters; Surface magnetism; Electron and spin dynamics; Surface dynamics; Methods; Electronic structure theory; Functional molecules)

O 35.126: Poster

Tuesday, March 27, 2012, 18:15–21:45, Poster B

Advanced pulse-shaper design for simultaneous phase, amplitude, and polarization control of femtosecond laser pulses — •Christoph Schwarz, Ole Hueter, Fabian Ebert, and Tobias Brixner — Institut für Physikalische und Theoretische Chemie, Universität Würzburg, Am Hubland, 97074 Würzburg

The technique of femtosecond pulse shaping is an essential tool for recent advances in the area of optical near-field control and spectroscopy. So far the commonly used pulse-shaper setups are restricted in terms of their degrees of freedom. Either the amplitude and phase of a single polarization state or the phases of two perpendicular polarizations can be modulated. In the latter case, shaping is limited to certain polarization states. To achieve shaping of the full vector field we introduce an improved pulse-shaper design. In contrast to other approaches a single dual-layer liquid-crystal spatial light modulator (LC-SLM) is employed in order to shape independently phase and amplitude of two mutually perpendicular polarization components. To maximize the number of usable pixels of the LC-SLM for both polarizations, it is important to achieve almost equal frequency distributions in the Fourier plane of the zero-dispersion compressor. Numerical calculations and ray-tracing simulations are employed to optimize these distributions. To realize the calculated parameters experimentally we use a tailor-made thin-film polarizer for generation of two perpendicularly polarized pulses and a volume phase holographic grating for the zero-dispersion compressor. By recombining the two polarizations in a common-path setup we achieve control over the complete vector field of the resulting pulse.