Phase-matching-free pulse retrieval based on transient absorption in solids.

In this paper, we introduce a pulse characterization technique that is free of phase-matching constraints, exploiting transient absorption in solids as an ultrafast optical switch. Based on a pump-probe setup, this technique uses pump pulses of sufficient intensity to induce the switch, while the pulses to characterize are probing the transmissivity drop of the photoexcited material. This enables the characterization of low-intensity ultra-broadband pulses at the detection limit of the spectrometer and within the transparency range of the solid. For example, by using zinc selenide (ZnSe), pulses with wavelengths from 0.5 to 20 µm can be characterized, denoting five octaves of spectral range. Using ptychography, we retrieve the temporal profiles of both the probe pulse and the switch. To demonstrate this approach, we measure ultrashort pulses from a titanium-sapphire (Ti-Sa) amplifier, which are compressed using a hollow core fiber setup, as well as infrared to mid-infrared pulses generated from an optical parametric amplifier (OPA). The characterized pulses are centered at wavelengths of 0.77, 1.53, 1.75, 4, and 10 µm, down to sub-two optical cycles duration, exceeding an octave of bandwidth, and with energy as low as a few nanojoules.

2.5 TW, two-cycle IR laser pulses via frequency domain optical parametric amplification.

Broadband optical parametric amplification in the IR region has reached a new milestone through the use of a non-collinear Frequency domain Optical Parametric Amplification system. We report a laser source delivering 11.6 fs pulses with 30 mJ of energy at a central wavelength of 1.8 µm at 10 Hz repetition rate corresponding to a peak power of 2.5 TW. The peak power scaling is accompanied by a pulse shortening of about 20% upon amplification due to the spectral reshaping with higher gain in the spectral wings. This source paves the way for high flux soft X-ray pulses and IR-driven laser wakefield acceleration.

Attosecond dynamics through a Fano resonance: Monitoring the birth of a photoelectron.

The dynamics of quantum systems are encoded in the amplitude and phase of wave packets. However, the rapidity of electron dynamics on the attosecond scale has precluded the complete characterization of electron wave packets in the time domain. Using spectrally resolved electron interferometry, we were able to measure the amplitude and phase of a photoelectron wave packet created through a Fano autoionizing resonance in helium. In our setup, replicas obtained by two-photon transitions interfere with reference wave packets that are formed through smooth continua, allowing the full temporal reconstruction, purely from experimental data, of the resonant wave packet released in the continuum. In turn, this resolves the buildup of the autoionizing resonance on an attosecond time scale. Our results, in excellent agreement with ab initio time-dependent calculations, raise prospects for detailed investigations of ultrafast photoemission dynamics governed by electron correlation, as well as coherent control over structured electron wave packets.

Molecular frame photoemission by a comb of elliptical high-order harmonics: a sensitive probe of both photodynamics and harmonic complete polarization state.

Due to the intimate anisotropic interaction between an XUV light field and a molecule resulting in photoionization (PI), molecular frame photoelectron angular distributions (MFPADs) are most sensitive probes of both electronic/nuclear dynamics and the polarization state of the ionizing light field. Consequently, they encode the complex dipole matrix elements describing the dynamics of the PI transition, as well as the three normalized Stokes parameters s1, s2, s3 characterizing the complete polarization state of the light, operating as molecular polarimetry. The remarkable development of advanced light sources delivering attosecond XUV pulses opens the perspective to visualize the primary steps of photochemical dynamics in time-resolved studies, at the natural attosecond to few femtosecond time-scales of electron dynamics and fast nuclear motion. It is thus timely to investigate the feasibility of measurement of MFPADs when PI is induced e.g., by an attosecond pulse train (APT) corresponding to a comb of discrete high-order harmonics. In the work presented here, we report MFPAD studies based on coincident electron-ion 3D momentum imaging in the context of ultrafast molecular dynamics investigated at the PLFA facility (CEA-SLIC), with two perspectives: (i) using APTs generated in atoms/molecules as a source for MFPAD-resolved PI studies, and (ii) taking advantage of molecular polarimetry to perform a complete polarization analysis of the harmonic emission of molecules, a major challenge of high harmonic spectroscopy. Recent results illustrating both aspects are reported for APTs generated in unaligned SF6 molecules by an elliptically polarized infrared driving field. The observed fingerprints of the elliptically polarized harmonics include the first direct determination of the complete s1, s2, s3 Stokes vector, equivalent to (ψ, ε, P), the orientation and the signed ellipticity of the polarization ellipse, and the degree of polarization P. They are compared to so far incomplete results of XUV optical polarimetry. We finally discuss the comparison between the outcomes of photoionization and high harmonic spectroscopy for the description of molecular photodynamics.

Flexible attosecond beamline for high harmonic spectroscopy and XUV/near-IR pump probe experiments requiring long acquisition times.

We describe the versatile features of the attosecond beamline recently installed at CEA-Saclay on the PLFA kHz laser. It combines a fine and very complete set of diagnostics enabling high harmonic spectroscopy (HHS) through the advanced characterization of the amplitude, phase, and polarization of the harmonic emission. It also allows a variety of photo-ionization experiments using magnetic bottle and COLTRIMS (COLd Target Recoil Ion Momentum Microscopy) electron spectrometers that may be used simultaneously, thanks to a two-foci configuration. Using both passive and active stabilization, special care was paid to the long term stability of the system to allow, using both experimental approaches, time resolved studies with attosecond precision, typically over several hours of acquisition times. As an illustration, applications to multi-orbital HHS and electron-ion coincidence time resolved spectroscopy are presented.

Defining The Other Solitude: Urban family practice training.

The changing content of urban-based family practice needs to be redefined so that appropriate family medicine training programs can be planned to meet the primary care health needs of Canada's urban-based population. Although the core content of family practice is common to both rural and urban areas, each requires specific skills and attitudes dictated by differences in patient characteristics, disease incidence, physician expectations, and professional contexts. A challenge for the future is the development of both rural-based and urban-based streams of family medicine training that will unite rather than divide the profesiion.

The Use of the Cavity-Rim Cervical Cap in a Family Physician's Office.

This paper describes a retrospective study which looked at the effectiveness of the Prentif cavity-rim cervical cap, cap usage, cap-associated problems and acceptability for 95 women fitted with a cervical cap at a family physician's office. The pregnancy rate of this group was 12.28/100 years of exposure. Data on cap usage, cap-associated problems and acceptability are presented and briefly discussed. The authors believe that although cap fitting and teaching are time consuming, and that the reported pregnancy rate is relatively high, the cervical cap does remain a valuable alternative method of contraception for some women.

The Drug Attitudes Scale (DAS): its development and evaluation.

Five studies were conducted, employing three independent samples of high school students, leading to the development and assessment of the reliability and validity of a Drug Attitudes Scales. The results of these studies support the conclusions that this scale shows substantial reliability and validity, and promises considerable utility in drug treatment and education research. The Drug Attitudes Scale consists of 60 attitude items dealing with drugs and drug use, and is comprised of 10 six-item subscales referring to tranquilizers, barbiturates, heroin, opiates other than heroin, "speed," alcohol, cannabis, hallucinogens, tobacco, and general drug use.