When employing spectroscopic and fluorescence techniques, it is vital that the right light can be generated with high precision. Optical signals need to have the correct pulse shape (in case of ultra-short pulses) and the correct wavelength(s)

At AMOLF we use femtosecond nonlinear spectroscopic techniques that employ highly intense femtosecond pulses at frequencies ranging from the far-infrared (THz) to the extreme ultraviolet (XUV). These light pulses are generated with eight amplified Ti:sapphire laser systems in combination with nonlinear frequency conversion techniques like optical rectification (50 µm – 1 mm), optical parametric amplification/sum-frequency generation (10 µm – 200 nm), white-light generation (1100 nm-300 nm), and high-harmonic generation (200 nm - 10 nm).

At the same time, we also study fundamental optical phenomena at the nanoscale that might eventually benefit the performance of light-emitting diodes (LEDs). Specifically, we investigate the light emission from quantum dots or dyes when they are coupled to nanophotonic structures.