PhD students' seminar: Quentin Bournet

PhD students' seminar given by Quentin Bournet, from the Lasers group, on 10 February 2022 at 1.15 pm in the auditorium of the Institut d'Optique Graduate School in Palaiseau, on the topic: " Generation of ultrashort pulses in the mid-Infrared".

Abstract: "Coherent sources with high average power in the mid-infrared (MIR) are crucial for a number of important applications in the natural sciences. For example, 2D molecular MIR spectroscopy is a powerful tool for studying conformational dynamics and biochemical reactions, providing a better understanding of how protein structure relates to biological function. Here we present a new laser source based on an intra-pulse frequency difference (iDFG) process using an ytterbium-doped fibre amplifier, producing pulses covering a wide MIR spectral range and with compressed durations of only tens of femtoseconds. These MIR pulses are then amplified in an optical parametric amplifier (OPA) stage, allowing energies of several hundred nanojoules to be expected, while maintaining good spatial properties. The increase in average power compared to Ti:Sa based sources allows for increased sensitivity/decreased acquisition times in the measurements, thus opening the way to a larger number of molecules, notably of biological interest for 2D spectroscopy techniques."