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Updated: Aug 27, 2025

20 mJ, 1 ps Yb:YAG Thin-disk Regenerative Amplifier
Published on: July 12, 2017
Efficient generation of mid-infrared few-cycle pulses by the intrapulse difference-frequency generation in YCOB
Abstract:
Yttrium calcium oxyborate (YCOB) crystals have been widely applied for generating intense near-infrared laser pulses by optical parametric amplification. Here, we show that the YCOB crystals oriented in both the XZ and XY principal planes possess broadband phase-matching property of intrapulse difference-frequency generation in the mid-infrared region. Few-cycle pulses tunable from 2 to 4 µm are experimentally produced by using a 7.5-fs pump laser at 800 nm, in which the conversion efficiency can be as high as 2.5%. With a large-size crystal and high-power pump laser, intrapulse difference-frequency generation based on YCOB may provide a new route for directly producing intense few-cycle mid-infrared pulses.
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