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Ultrafast monochromator

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An ultrafast monochromator is a monochromator that preserves the duration of an ultrashort pulse (in the femtosecond, or lower, time-scale).[1][2] Monochromators are devices that select for a particular wavelength, typically using a diffraction grating to disperse the light and a slit to select the desired wavelength; however, a diffraction grating introduces path delays that measurably lengthen the duration of an ultrashort pulse. An ultrafast monochromator uses a second diffraction grating to compensate time delays introduced to the pulse by the first grating and other dispersive optical elements.

Diffraction grating

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Diffraction gratings are constructed such that the angle of the incident ray, θi, is related to the angle of the mth outgoing ray, θm, by the expression

.

Two rays diffracted by adjacent grooves will differ in path length by a distance . The total difference between the longest and shortest path within a beam is computed by multiplying by the total number of grooves illuminated.

For instance, a beam of width 10 mm illuminating a grating with 1200 grooves/mm uses 12,000 grooves. At a wavelength of 10 nm, the first order diffracted beam, m = 1, will have a path length variation across the beam of 120 μm. This corresponds to a time difference in the arrival of 400 femtoseconds. This is often negligible for picosecond pulses but not for those of femtosecond duration.

Applications

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A major application is the extraction, without time-broadening, of a single high-order harmonic pulse out of the many generated by an ultrafast laser pulse interacting with a gas target.[citation needed]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Poletto, Luca; Frassetto, Fabio; Villoresi, Paolo (2012). "Ultrafast Grating Instruments in the Extreme Ultraviolet". IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Quantum Electronics. 18 (1): 467–478. doi:10.1109/JSTQE.2011.2135338. ISSN 1077-260X. S2CID 26107534.
  2. ^ Tschentscher, Thomas; Patthey, Luc; Brenner, Günter; Frassetto, Fabio; Kuhlmann, Marion; Ploenjes, Elke; Poletto, Luca (2017). Tschentscher, Thomas; Patthey, Luc (eds.). "Grating monochromator with ultrafast response for FLASH2 at DESY" (PDF). Advances in X-ray Free-Electron Lasers Instrumentation IV. 10237: 1023716. doi:10.1117/12.2264885. ISSN 0277-786X. S2CID 56251242. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)

Palmer, Christopher (2020). Diffraction Grating Handbook (8th ed.). MKS Newport.