We present a compact setup based on a three-dimensional integrated optical component, allowing the mea- surement of spectrally resolved complex-visibilities for three channels of polychromatic light. We have tested a prototype of the component in R b
and and showed that accurate complex visibilities could be retrieved over a bandwidth of 50 nm centered at 650 nm (resolution: R=130). Closure phase stability in the order of $lambda$/60 was achieved implying that the device could be used for spectro-interferometry imaging.
We exploit inverse Raman scattering and solvated electron absorption to perform a quantitative characterization of the energy loss and ionization dynamics in water with tightly focused near-infrared femtosecond pulses. A comparison between experiment
al data and numerical simulations suggests that the ionization energy of water is 8 eV, rather than the commonly used value of 6.5 eV. We also introduce an equation for the Raman gain valid for ultra-short pulses that validates our experimental procedure.
Regular two-dimensional lattices of evanescently coupled waveguides may provide in the near future photonic components capable of combining interferometrically and simultaneously a large number of telescopes, thus easing the imaging capabilities of o
ptical interferometers. In this paper, the theoretical modeling of the so-called Discrete Beam Combiners (DBC) is described and compared to the conventional model used for photonic beam combiners for astronomical interferometry. The performance of DBCs as compared to an ideal ABCD beam combiner is discussed and applications to astronomical instrumentation analyzed.
By means of a quantitative shadowgraphic method, we performed a space-time characterization of the refractive index variation and transient absorption induced by a light-plasma filament generated by a 100 fs laser pulse in water. The formation and ev
olution of the plasma channel in the proximity of the nonlinear focus were observed with a 23 fs time resolution.
