title: Generation of sub-50-fs vacuum ultraviolet pulses by four-wave mixing in argon.
abstract: We report on the generation of femtosecond pulses at 160 nm with energies up to 240 nJ at 1 kHz repetition rate and sub-50-fs pulse duration. This pulse energy is a 1-order-of-magnitude improvement compared with previous sub-100-fs sources in this wavelength range. The pulses are generated by four-wave difference-frequency mixing process between the fundamental of a Ti:sapphire laser and its third harmonic in argon. Pulse duration measurements are achieved by pump-probe ionization of Xe gas providing the cross correlation between the fifth harmonic and the fundamental.
authors.affiliation: Max-Born-Institute for Nonlinear Optics and Ultrafast Spectroscopy, Max-Born-Strasse 2a, 12489 Berlin, Germany. beutler@mbi-berlin.de
authors.forename: Marcus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Beutler
authors.forename: Masood
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ghotbi
authors.forename: Frank
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Noack
authors.forename: Ingolf Volker
authors.initials: IV
authors.lastname: Hertel
mesh_terms: D001128:Argon; D004867:Equipment Design; D007834:Lasers; D017785:Photons; D013997:Time Factors; D014466:Ultraviolet Rays; D014618:Vacuum
chemical_list: D001128:Argon