Highly stable, 15 W, few-cycle, 65 mrad CEP-noise mid-IR OPCPA for statistical physics

Area of Science:

• Laser Physics
• Nonlinear Optics
• Ultrafast Science

Background:

• Optical parametric amplifiers (OPAs) are crucial for generating tunable ultrashort laser pulses.
• Achieving high repetition rates and high average power simultaneously with excellent stability remains a challenge.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate a high-repetition-rate, high-average-power optical parametric chirped-pulse amplifier (OPCPA).
• To characterize the performance of the OPCPA in terms of pulse duration, energy, stability, and carrier-envelope phase (CEP) noise.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a 100 kHz optical parametric chirped-pulse amplifier system.
• Employed a fast 100 kHz data acquisition device for continuous monitoring.
• Characterized pulse properties including duration, energy stability, and single-shot CEP noise.

Main Results:

• Delivered pulses with under 4-cycle (38 fs) duration at ~3.2 µm.
• Achieved an average power of 15.2 W.
• Demonstrated pulse-to-pulse energy stability <0.7% root mean square (RMS) and single-shot CEP noise of 65 mrad RMS over 8 hours.

Conclusions:

• The developed 100 kHz OPCPA is an extremely stable ultrashort pulse source.
• This laser system provides high average power and excellent stability, suitable for demanding scientific applications.
• Continuous monitoring confirms robust short-term and long-term performance.