Generating and Characterizing Few-Cycle Laser Waveforms

Speaker:  Michael Chini, UCF

Program Description:

Attosecond science relies upon the generation, characterization, and control of intense, single-cycle laser pulses with well-controlled electric field waveforms. Generating such pulses has, for decades, relied upon state-of-the-art laser systems accessible in only a few laboratories worldwide, while characterization of their electric field waveforms has required complex pump-probe measurements. In this talk, I will show that the delayed rotational nonlinearity of molecular gases can be harnessed for extreme compression and frequency conversion of industrial-grade lasers, and I will present new techniques for single-shot characterization of the generated laser waveforms.