Hollow-core crystal fibres generate ultra-short laser pulses

Hollow core photonic crystal fibres have long been a topic of intensive investigation at MPL. These glass structures, with a complex lattice of hollow channels running along their length, permit light to be guided with high precision in a central hollow core. A series of experiments have shown that, when filled with gas, the fibres can be used in many interesting and novel ways, for example, forming the basis of table-top sources of ultrashort femtosecond pulses running at very high repetition rates, with a spectral brightness two to five orders of magnitude greater than most synchrotrons.