Broadband ultrashort light generation from a narrowband seed

Abstract Light beams with broad spectral bandwidth are indispensable for the generation of ultrashort light pulses. Here, the generation of broadband ultrashort light pulses from narrowband seeds in transparent media is demonstrated. Broadband light pulses with a spectral width of hundreds of nanometers can be generated seeding with narrowband light pulses. The full spectral bandwidths of the narrowband seeds are several nanometers. Broadband ultrashort pulses from about 500 nm to 1020 nm are obtained seeding with a light beam at around 900 nm with 9 nm full spectral bandwidth. The temporal and spatial parameters of the generated broadband pulses are measured and analyzed. A new method for the generation of wavelength tunable broadband ultrashort lights is presented. The broadband light beam generation phenomenon can be explained by ping-pong four wave mixing (PPFWM) process, which helps us to understand all the optical parametric processes visually. The generated broadband pulses have potential applications in ultrafast spectroscopy and ultrafast pump–probe experiments.