Vector modulation instability in gas-filled multi-pass cells
Abstract
Multi-pass cells (MPCs) have emerged as versatile systems for nonlinear pulse compression supporting large single-stage compression factors. However, their performance is limited at extreme B-integrals by the onset of secondary nonlinear effects, which lead to the appearance of parasitic spectral peaks. In this Letter, we report the experimental observation of vector modulation instability (VMI) as a primary limiting mechanism in a gas-filled MPCs operating at B-integrals >30 radians. The VMI signal is polarized orthogonally to the input beam and distinct from spectral features arising due to quasi-phase-matched four-wave mixing (QPM-FWM). We experimentally show that the VMI gain scales with accumulated B-integral, rather than with only gas density or peak power. Crucially, employing circularly polarized input pulse suppresses VMI. This mitigation strategy, combined with dispersion management, paves the way for single-stage compression factors exceeding 40.
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BibTeX
@article{escoto2026vector,
title = {{Vector modulation instability in gas-filled multi-pass cells}},
author = {Esmerando Escoto and Andrea Zablah and Supriya Rajhans and Xavier Délen and Marc Hanna and Christoph M Heyl},
journal = {Optics Letters},
year = {2026},
month = may,
doi = {10.1364/ao.xx.xxxxxx},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05760035v1},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Vector modulation instability in gas-filled multi-pass cells
AU - Esmerando Escoto
AU - Andrea Zablah
AU - Supriya Rajhans
AU - Xavier Délen
AU - Marc Hanna
AU - Christoph M Heyl
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/05/28
JO - Optics Letters
DO - 10.1364/ao.xx.xxxxxx
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05760035v1
AB - Multi-pass cells (MPCs) have emerged as versatile systems for nonlinear pulse compression supporting large single-stage compression factors. However, their performance is limited at extreme B-integrals by the onset of secondary nonlinear effects, which lead to the appearance of parasitic spectral peaks. In this Letter, we report the experimental observation of vector modulation instability (VMI) as a primary limiting mechanism in a gas-filled MPCs operating at B-integrals >30 radians. The VMI signal is polarized orthogonally to the input beam and distinct from spectral features arising due to quasi-phase-matched four-wave mixing (QPM-FWM). We experimentally show that the VMI gain scales with accumulated B-integral, rather than with only gas density or peak power. Crucially, employing circularly polarized input pulse suppresses VMI. This mitigation strategy, combined with dispersion management, paves the way for single-stage compression factors exceeding 40.
SN - 0146-9592
SN - 1539-4794
ER -