Spectral and temporal properties of femtosecond white-light continuum generated in H2O

The temporal behaviour and spectral distribution of white-light continuum g eneration in H2O using a focused intense 800 nm 130 fs Ti:sapphire laser we re studied. The results indicated that the white-light continuum spectrally ranged from 1000 to 400nm, which was mainly attributed to self-phase modul ation related to the Kerr effect and ionisation. The pulse duration of diff erent spectral components of the generated white-light continuum, which was measured with the frequency up-conversion technique, was obtained around 1 37fs. It revealed a comparable time resolution as the original laser pulse.