From extreme nonlinear optics to ultrafast atomic physics

J. I. Dijkhuis, P. van der Straten

Michael Hofmann, Carsten Brée

Freeman resonances are an extremely utile phenomenon of ultrafast laser physics [1]. They arise when a Ry-dberg state is AC-Stark shifted into multiphoton resonance with the atomic ground state. Here, we theoretically demonstrate that Freeman resonances may strongly impact the optical propagation within femtosecond filaments, revealing the requirement for a synthesis of filamentation nonlinear optics and ultrafast strong field phenomena.

M. Yamanishi, M. Kurosaki

An optical nonlinearity due to virtual charge polarization in a quantum-well structure biased by a DC electric field is proposed and discussed. The switching time of the nonlinearity is expected to be extremely short, on the order of 100 fs. An effective degenerative four-wave chi /sup 3/ parameter is estimated to be 1.0*10/sup -9/ (esu) for a graded gap AlGaAs quantum well and a detuning energy of pump light, 35 meV. The nonlinearity is observable and quite useful for designing an all-optical and ultrafast optical gate.>

S. L. Rolston, William D. Phillips