A novel design approach for dispersion-compensating chirped mirrors with greater-than-octave bandwidth is proposed. The commonly encountered problem of dispersion ripple is overcome by impedance matching via Brewster incidence in respect to the top-layer coating material. This approach totally suppresses undesired reflections off the interface to the ambient medium without any need for complicated matching sections. It is shown that Brewster-angled chirped mirrors can deliver ultrabroadband dispersion compensation over a much wider bandwidth than conventional double-chirped mirrors and without the mechanical complexity of back-deposition approaches. Due to their relatively simple structure, the sensitivity of the dispersion of the Brewster-angled designs towards growth errors is greatly reduced. Therefore, this new generation of chirped mirrors appears ideal for compression of continuum pulses with a potential of pulse durations in the single-cycle regime.

© 2003 Optical Society of America

1. A. Baltuška, Z. Wei, M. S. Pshenichnikov, D. A. Wiersma, R. Szip�?cs, �??All-solid-state cavity-dumped sub-5-fs laser,�?? Appl. Phys. B 65, 175�??188 (1997). [CrossRef]
2. D. H. Sutter, G. Steinmeyer, L. Gallmann, N. Matuschek, F. Morier-Genoud, U. Keller, V. Scheuer, G. Angelow, T. Tschudi, �??Semiconductor saturable-absorber mirror-assisted Kerr-lens mode-locked Ti:sapphire laser producing pulses in the two-cycle regime,�?? Opt. Lett. 24, 631�??633, (1999). [CrossRef]
3. F. X. Kärtner, U. Morgner, R. Ell, T. Schibli, J. G. Fujimoto, E. P. Ippen, V. Scheuer, G. Angelow, T. Tschudi, �??Ultrabroadband double-chirped mirror pairs for generation of octave spectra,�?? J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 18, 882�??885, (2001). [CrossRef]
4. L. Xu, L. Liming, N. Nakagawa, R. Morita, M. Yamashita, �??Application of a spatial light modulator for programmable optical pulse compression to the sub-6-fs regime,�?? IEEE Phot. Technol. Lett. 12, 1540�??1542, (2000). [CrossRef]
5. B. Schenkel, J. Biegert, U. Keller, C. Vozzi, M. Nisoli, G. Sansone, S. Stagira, S. De Silvestri, O. Svelto �??Generation of 3.8-fs pulses from adaptive compression of a cascaded hollow fiber supercontinuum,�?? Opt. Lett. 28, to be published, Oct. 15, (2003). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
6. N. Zhavoronkov, G. Korn, �??Generation of single intense short optical pulses by ultrafast molecular phase modulation,�?? Phys. Rev. Lett. 88, 203901 (2002). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
7. V. Kalosha, J. Herrmann, �??Ultrabroadband phase-amplitude modulation and compression of extremely short uv and vuv pulses by Raman-active molecular modulators,�?? Phys. Rev. A 67, 031801 (2003). [CrossRef]
8. F. Gires, P. Tournois, �??Interféromètre utilisable pour la compression d�??impulsions lumineuses modulées en fréquence,�?? C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris 258, 6112, (1964).
9. G. Steinmeyer, �??Dispersion oscillations in ultrafast phase correction devices,�?? IEEE J. Quantum Electron., 39, 1027�??1034, (2003). [CrossRef]
10. R. Szip�?cs, K. Ferencz, C. Spielmann, F. Krausz, �??Chirped multilayer coatings for broad-band dispersion control in femtosecond lasers,�?? Opt. Lett. 19, 201�??203, (1994). [CrossRef]
11. R. Szip�?cs and A. K�?házi-Kis, �??Theory and desing of chirped dielectric mirrors,�?? Appl. Phys. B 65, 115�??135, (1997). [CrossRef]
12. F. X. Kärtner, N. Matuschek, T. Schibli, U. Keller, H. A. Haus, C. Heine, R. Morf, V. Scheuer, M. Tilsch, T. Tschudi, �??Design and fabrication of double-chirped mirrors,�?? Opt. Lett. 22, 831�??833, (1997). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
13. N. Matuschek, F. X. Kärtner, U. Keller, �??Analytical design of double-chirped mirrors with custom-tailored dispersion characteristics,�?? IEEE J. Quantum Electron. 35, 129�??137, (1999). [CrossRef]
14. J. A. Dobrowolski, A. V. Tikhonravov, M. K. Trubetskov, B. T. Sullivan, P. G. Verly, �??Optimal single-band normal-incidence antireflection coatings,�?? Appl. Opt. 35, 644�??658, (1996). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
15. N. Matuschek, L. Gallmann, D. H. Sutter, G. Steinmeyer, U. Keller �??Back-side-coated chirped mirrors with ultra-smooth broadband dispersion characteristics,�?? Appl. Phys. B 71, 509-522, (2000). [CrossRef]
16. G. Tempea, V. Yakovlev, B. Bacovic, F. Krausz, K. Ferencz, �??Tilted-front-interface chirped mirrors,�?? J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 18, 1747�??1750, (2001). [CrossRef]
17. K. Starke, D. Ristau, Laserzentrum Hannover, private communication, (2002).

Appl. Opt.

• J. A. Dobrowolski, A. V. Tikhonravov, M. K. Trubetskov, B. T. Sullivan, P. G. Verly, �??Optimal single-band normal-incidence antireflection coatings,�?? Appl. Opt. 35, 644�??658, (1996). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

Appl. Phys.

• A. Baltuška, Z. Wei, M. S. Pshenichnikov, D. A. Wiersma, R. Szip�?cs, �??All-solid-state cavity-dumped sub-5-fs laser,�?? Appl. Phys. B 65, 175�??188 (1997). [CrossRef]

Appl. Phys. B

• N. Matuschek, L. Gallmann, D. H. Sutter, G. Steinmeyer, U. Keller �??Back-side-coated chirped mirrors with ultra-smooth broadband dispersion characteristics,�?? Appl. Phys. B 71, 509-522, (2000). [CrossRef]
• R. Szip�?cs and A. K�?házi-Kis, �??Theory and desing of chirped dielectric mirrors,�?? Appl. Phys. B 65, 115�??135, (1997). [CrossRef]

C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris

• F. Gires, P. Tournois, �??Interféromètre utilisable pour la compression d�??impulsions lumineuses modulées en fréquence,�?? C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris 258, 6112, (1964).

IEEE J. Quantum Electron.

• G. Steinmeyer, �??Dispersion oscillations in ultrafast phase correction devices,�?? IEEE J. Quantum Electron., 39, 1027�??1034, (2003). [CrossRef]
• N. Matuschek, F. X. Kärtner, U. Keller, �??Analytical design of double-chirped mirrors with custom-tailored dispersion characteristics,�?? IEEE J. Quantum Electron. 35, 129�??137, (1999). [CrossRef]

IEEE Phot. Technol. Lett.

• L. Xu, L. Liming, N. Nakagawa, R. Morita, M. Yamashita, �??Application of a spatial light modulator for programmable optical pulse compression to the sub-6-fs regime,�?? IEEE Phot. Technol. Lett. 12, 1540�??1542, (2000). [CrossRef]

J. Opt. Soc. Am. B

• F. X. Kärtner, U. Morgner, R. Ell, T. Schibli, J. G. Fujimoto, E. P. Ippen, V. Scheuer, G. Angelow, T. Tschudi, �??Ultrabroadband double-chirped mirror pairs for generation of octave spectra,�?? J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 18, 882�??885, (2001). [CrossRef]
• G. Tempea, V. Yakovlev, B. Bacovic, F. Krausz, K. Ferencz, �??Tilted-front-interface chirped mirrors,�?? J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 18, 1747�??1750, (2001). [CrossRef]

Opt. Lett.

• F. X. Kärtner, N. Matuschek, T. Schibli, U. Keller, H. A. Haus, C. Heine, R. Morf, V. Scheuer, M. Tilsch, T. Tschudi, �??Design and fabrication of double-chirped mirrors,�?? Opt. Lett. 22, 831�??833, (1997). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
• R. Szip�?cs, K. Ferencz, C. Spielmann, F. Krausz, �??Chirped multilayer coatings for broad-band dispersion control in femtosecond lasers,�?? Opt. Lett. 19, 201�??203, (1994). [CrossRef]
• B. Schenkel, J. Biegert, U. Keller, C. Vozzi, M. Nisoli, G. Sansone, S. Stagira, S. De Silvestri, O. Svelto �??Generation of 3.8-fs pulses from adaptive compression of a cascaded hollow fiber supercontinuum,�?? Opt. Lett. 28, to be published, Oct. 15, (2003). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
• D. H. Sutter, G. Steinmeyer, L. Gallmann, N. Matuschek, F. Morier-Genoud, U. Keller, V. Scheuer, G. Angelow, T. Tschudi, �??Semiconductor saturable-absorber mirror-assisted Kerr-lens mode-locked Ti:sapphire laser producing pulses in the two-cycle regime,�?? Opt. Lett. 24, 631�??633, (1999). [CrossRef]

Phys. Rev. A

• V. Kalosha, J. Herrmann, �??Ultrabroadband phase-amplitude modulation and compression of extremely short uv and vuv pulses by Raman-active molecular modulators,�?? Phys. Rev. A 67, 031801 (2003). [CrossRef]

Phys. Rev. Lett.

• N. Zhavoronkov, G. Korn, �??Generation of single intense short optical pulses by ultrafast molecular phase modulation,�?? Phys. Rev. Lett. 88, 203901 (2002). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

Other

• K. Starke, D. Ristau, Laserzentrum Hannover, private communication, (2002).

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