In this laboratory we investigate the generation and manipulation of ultrafast spin dynamics and their quantum nature with laser pulses in the mid-infrared (MIR) spectral range.
For this purpose, we use a laser system which is designed and developed with the vision to generate ultrashort laser pulses with intense electric fields.
It combines the advantages of Er/Yb:fiber-lasers and Yb:YAG-thin-disk amplifier laser technology in an innovative way. As a result a high intrinsic stability and scalability of the pulse energy up to tens of millijoules (Opt. Lett. 41, 246-249 (2016)) are simultaneously achieved.
Relying on three optical parametric amplifiers together with a nonlinear crystal the central frequency of the photons is converted down to few tens of Terahertz via difference frequency generation (see figure). The MIR-pulses generated in this way are also stable in terms of carrier-envelope phase. This feature, in combination with the extended spectral tunability make these MIR pulses highly attractive for investigations of the ultrafast spin dynamics in solids. A magneto-optical detection of the spin dynamics can be performed in the near-infrared spectral range with 20 femtoseconds time-resolution.
