Precision large field scanning system for high numerical aperture lenses and application to femtosecond micromachining of ophthalmic materials.

A precision, large stroke (nearly 1 cm) scanning system was designed, built, and calibrated for micromachining of ophthalmic materials including hydrogels and cornea (excised and in vivo). This system comprises a flexure stage with an attached objective on stacked vertical and horizontal translation stages. This paper outlines the design process leading to our most current version including the specifications that were used in the design and the drawbacks of other methods that were previously used. Initial measurements of the current version are also given. The current flexure was measured to have a 27 Hz natural frequency with no load.

In situ measurement of complete intracavity dispersion in an operating Ti:sapphire femtosecond laser.

Broadband measurements of the frequency-dependent group delay in a Ti:sapphire passive mode-locked laser operating at a 100-fs pulse width under various conditions are reported. From these measurements one can determine the dispersive limits and the connection between dispersion and mode-locking stability in the self-mode-locked regime.

Lifetime of fluorescence from light-harvesting chlorophyll a/b proteins. Excitation intensity dependence.

The fluorescence from a purified, aggregate form of the light-harvesting chlorophyll a/b protein has a lifetime of 1.2 +/- 0.5 ns at low excitation intensity, but the lifetime decreases significantly when the intensity of the 20-ps, 530-nm excitation pulse is increased above about 10(16) photons/cm2. A solubilized, monomeric form of the protein, on the other hand, has a fluorescence lifetime of 3.1 +/- 0.3 ns independent of excitation intensity from 10(14)-10(18) photons/cm2/pulse. We interpret the lifetime shortening in the aggregates and the lack of shortening in monomers in terms of exciton annihilation, facilitated in the aggregate by the larger population of interacting chlorophylls.

Broadband cubic-phase compensation with resonant Gires-Tournois interferometers.

We discuss our design, construction, and characterization of thin-film Gires-Tournois interferometers for cubic-phase correction of ultrashort (<10-fsec) laser pulses. We include in the theory of the group delay of Gires-Tournois interferometers the dispersion of the thin-film layer, an important effect in the broadband limit. We characterize and use specific broadband, high-efficiency, low-dispersion substrates for this application.

Coupled-cavity resonant passive mode-locked Ti:sapphire laser.

We use a nonlinear quantum-well reflective sample in a coupled-cavity configuration for resonant passive mode locking of a Ti:sapphire laser, producing tunable pulses as short as 2 psec. Pulses of less than 10-psec duration are observed over a 50-nm wavelength tuning range using a single-quantum-well reflector, over approximately 2 mm of external cavity length detuning. Stable mode-locked pulse trains are obtained without active cavity length control; however, the optical spectrum depends on the phase. We generate up to the sixth harmonic of the fundamental repetition rate, at 1.2 GHz, by simply decreasing the external cavity length.

Cross-locking dynamics in a two-color mode-locked Ti:sapphire laser.

We investigate the nonlinear interactions between pulses of two different wavelengths within a single cross-mode-locked femtosecond Ti:sapphire laser. We show that the nonlinear interaction caused by self-focusing can correct for a difference in cavity lengths of as much as +/-3 microm, corresponding to 20% of the pulse width on each round trip. Further, we show that the concept of mean group delay can be extended to a pair of pulses with disparate spectra and spatial distribution in a nonlinear regenerative system.

Two-photon-excitation scanning microscopy of living neurons with a saturable Bragg reflector mode-locked diode-pumped Cr:LiSrAlFl laser.

A Cr:LiSrAlFl laser, pumped with a diffraction-limited laser diode and mode locked with a saturable Bragg reflector, produces 90-fs pulses at 860 nm with a cw power as high as 88 mW in two beams. It is shown that this recently developed, compact, solid-state laser can be used as an excitation source for two-photon laser scanning microscopy. Morphological and functional images of neocortical and cerebellar neurons were obtained with submicrometer three-dimensional resolution. Single dendritic spines could easily be resolved deep in scattering tissue.

True fundamental solitons in a passively mode-locked short-cavity Cr(4+):YAG laser.

We demonstrate a self-starting, passively mode-locked short-cavity Cr(4+):YAG laser that supports fundamental intracavity solitons over wide ranges of cavity group-velocity dispersion and pulse energies. The total dispersion and nonlinear effects are small enough that stable, N=1 soliton pulses are generated. Equally spaced multiple pulsing is also observed, with fundamental soliton behavior preserved. Regions of bistability exist where, at a constant cavity dispersion, the laser can produce transform-limited pulses of a different width and energy. The laser produces 200-fs pulses at approximately 0.9-, 1.8-, and 2.7-GHz repetition rates with a total of 82 mW of average output power.

Stable multigigahertz pulse-train formation in a short-cavity passively harmonic mode-locked erbium/ytterbium fiber laser.

We demonstrate a short-cavity erbium-ytterbium fiber laser that is passively mode locked by a saturable Bragg reflector with a fundamental repetition rate of 235 MHz . The laser operates in the soliton regime and under passive harmonic mode locking with 11 pulses in the cavity and produces output pulse trains at 2.6 GHz with transform-limited 270-fs pulses and 1.6 mW of average power. Within the cavity the multiple pulses form a stable pattern with fixed, nearly equal pulse-to-pulse temporal spacings, causing the output pulse train to have timing offsets of less than 15 ps. A slow gain-recovery model is proposed to explain the pulse-train self-organization.

Post-obstructive nephropathy in the rat: relationship between NA-K-ATPase activity and renal function.

Na-K-ATPase activity and renal function were compared in rats studied after relief of 24 h of unilateral or bilateral ureteral ligation (UUL or BUL), that is, in the absence or presence of post-obstructive diuresis. Na-K-ATPase activity in the outer medulla of the rat kidney after relief of UUL was not significantly altered immediately but was markedly reduced 1 and 3 days post-obstruction. The decrease in medullary Na-K-ATPase activity was not significantly different from that observed after relief of BUL. These results indicate that decreased Na-K-ATPase activity in the post-obstructive kidney is not responsible for post-obstructive diuresis and is not due to uremia, but is a local phenomenon which is probably secondary to altered renal structure or function. It may be due to decreased filtered sodium load or direct tubular damage, but other data suggests that the decreased medullary solute concentration gradient in the post-obstructive kidney (UUL or BUL) may influence Na-K-ATPase activity which, in turn, contributes to the decreased ability to conserve sodium and water.

Femtosecond pulses from a continuously self-starting passively mode-locked Ti:sapphire laser.

We show that an external coupled cavity containing a nonlinear quantum-well reflector can continuously selfstart a dispersion-compensated Ti:sapphire laser, which produces stable time-transform-limited pulses as short as 70 fs in a TEM(00) mode. In this mode of operation, the quantum wells do not control the mode-locking process, as in previous research on the resonant passive mode-locked laser. By separating the mode-locking and starting processes, we show that the presence of higher-order spatial modes is not required to start or sustain mode locking.

How fast is excitonic electroabsorption?

Many semiconductor light modulators rely on changes in excitonic absorption induced by electric fields. We study their temporal response in the framework of a one-dimensional model, for which we solve exactly the timedependent Schrödinger equation. For a homogeneously broadened system, the electroabsorption response time is found to be simply the inverse of the (field-induced) exciton linewidth, which can be as short as 50 fsec.

Vector soliton fission.

We investigate the vectorial nature of soliton fission in an isotropic nonlinear medium both theoretically and experimentally. As a specific example, we show that supercontinuum generation in a tapered fiber is extremely sensitive to the input state of polarization. Multiple vector solitons generated through soliton fission exhibit different states of elliptical polarization while emitting nonsolitonic radiation with complicated polarization features. Experiments performed with a tapered fiber agree with our theoretical description.

Passive harmonic mode-locked soliton fiber laser stabilized by an optically pumped saturable Bragg reflector.

Stabilization of passive harmonic mode locking is achieved for what is believed to be the first time in an Er-Yb soliton fiber laser by optical pumping of the semiconductor saturable absorber above the bandgap. The results show 35-dB mode suppression of undesired harmonics.

Frequency-dependent mode size in broadband Kerr-lens mode locking.

Examination of the output beam size from a 10-fs Kerr-lens mode-locked Ti:sapphire laser reveals a strong spectral dependence. These results provide insight into the details of the mode-locking mechanisms and suggest reasons for the current limitations on the shortest achievable pulses.

Design and demonstration of a high-speed, multichannel, optical-sampling oscilloscope.

Free-space digital optical systems have demonstrated the capability to provide thousands of optical connections between optoelectronic chips. This dense concentration of channels creates substantial challenges in monitoring individual connections for diagnostic purposes without compromising performance. Prom the concept of stroboscopic techniques, we have designed and constructed a multichannel optical diagnostic tool that operates analogously to an electronic-sampling oscilloscope. The tool is economically constructed by the use of commercially available video cameras and video-enhanced personal computers. An integrated software application operates the tool and displays multiple-channel waveforms. We demonstrate the oscilloscope-sampling optical waveforms of a two-dimensional optoelectronic modulator array operating at data rates from 0.5 to 4 Gbits/s.

Wavelength-division multiplexing with femtosecond pulses.

We demonstrate wavelength-division multiplexing with a single broadband femtosecond source by slicing the 3.7-THz spectral bandwidth of 85-fs laser pulses into 16 channels that are modulated individually.

Effect of osmolality on renal medullary Na-K-ATPase activity in the postobstructive kidney.

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of changes in osmolality on the reduced renal medullary Na-K-ATPase (EC 3.6.1.3) activity of the postobstructive kidney. The effect of osmolality on renal medullary Na-K-ATPase activity was studied by incubating tissue slices from sham-operated and bilaterally obstructed rats in media with osmolality varied before enzyme isolation using sodium chloride, choline chloride, or sucrose. Both sham-operated and bilaterally obstructed rat renal medullary enzyme showed a similar increase in activity with increased osmolality due to sodium chloride. Medullary Na-K-ATPase from the postobstructive kidney also showed increased activity with osmotic changes induced by choline chloride or sucrose. It is proposed that the decrease of Na-K-ATPase activity observed after bilateral ureteral obstruction is due, at least in part, to the loss of the solute concentration gradient in the kidney.

Amplified femtosecond optical pulses and continuum generation at 5-kHz repetition rate.

Pulses of 90-fsec duration from a cavity-dumped colliding-pulse mode-locked laser have been amplified to microjoule energies at 5-kHz repetition rate using a copper-vapor-laser pump source. Near-diffraction-limited focusing and efficient femtosecond continuum generation are demonstrated.