High-energy few-cycle Yb-doped fiber amplifier source based on a single nonlinear compression stage

Area of Science:

• Physics
• Laser Science
• Nonlinear Optics

Background:

• Development of compact and efficient few-cycle laser sources is crucial for advanced scientific research.
• Existing laser systems often face limitations in pulse duration, energy, or complexity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To present a simple, compact, and efficient few-cycle laser source operating at a 1 µm central wavelength.
• To achieve unprecedented short pulse durations for driving novel applications.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a high-energy femtosecond ytterbium-doped fiber amplifier.
• Employed spectral intensity and phase shaping for gain narrowing mitigation and nonlinear spectral phase compensation.
• Implemented single-stage nonlinear compression in a xenon-filled capillary.

Main Results:

• Generated 130 fs, 250 µJ pulses at 200 kHz (1.5 GW peak power, 50 W average power) from the amplifier.
• Achieved 14 fs, 120 µJ pulses at 200 kHz (24 W average power) after nonlinear compression.
• Demonstrated a compact and efficient system for generating few-cycle laser pulses.

Conclusions:

• The developed laser source offers a significant advancement in generating ultrashort pulses.
• This technology is poised to enable numerous new applications in extreme ultraviolet (XUV) generation and attosecond science.