Dr Christian Brahms Seminar

"New ultrafast science enabled by optical soliton dynamics in gas-filled hollow-core fibres"

A Departmental Seminar with Dr Christian Brahms

MAS 2.05/06
13:00 Friday 15 May, 2026

Laser pulses with shorter duration and wider spectral coverage have been a primary goal in ultrafast optics for its entire history, and progress in our understanding of ultrafast processes in nature has always depended on their development. In this talk I will discuss how optical soliton dynamics in gas-filled hollow-core fibres can give access to new ultrafast laser tools in three particularly challenging areas: short wavelengths in the far UV (100-250 nm), ultrabroadband spectra (UV to IR), and very short pulses (few- to sub-femtosecond). The unique propagation dynamics which occur inside a gas-filled fibres when the system parameters are chosen just right lead to self-compression of ultrafast laser pulses to sub-cycle duration, and the generation of wavelength-tuneable few-femtosecond pulses from the far UV to the near IR through the process of resonant dispersive wave emission. I will show the fundamental principles behind this approach, how we make this kind of light source work in practice, and some of the new scientific discoveries made possible by exploiting these capabilities.