Generation of programmable near-Fourier-transform-limited pulses of narrow-band laser radiation from the near infrared to the vacuum ultraviolet

Fourier-transform-limited pulses of programmable length and shape have been generated in the range λ=720–825nm from the continuous-wave output of a Ti3+-doped sapphire (Ti:Sa) ring laser using a pulsed acousto-optic modulator (AOM). The minimal rise time of the pulses amounts to 10ns and is limited by the size of the cw laser beam in the active medium of the AOM. Amplification of the radiation pulses in Nd:YAG-pumped Ti:Sa crystals into intense pulses of near-infrared (NIR) radiation with pulse energies of up to 15mJ was demonstrated at a repetition rate of 25Hz. Frequency upconversion into the ultraviolet (UV) by frequency doubling (νUV=2νNIR) or by mixing the fundamental NIR radiation with the doubled radiation (νUV=3νNIR) in nonlinear crystals was achieved under conditions where the pulse shapes could be preserved. The pulse energies amounted to up to 1mJ for the doubled radiation and 100μJ for the tripled radiation for NIR pulses of 30ns duration. Vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) radiation pulses of 108–109ph...