Few-cycle 12.5-GW pulses generated via efficient all-solid-state post-compression from an ytterbium laser.

Area of Science:

• Laser Physics
• Nonlinear Optics
• Ultrafast Science

Background:

• Conventional gas-filled post-compression techniques are widely used for generating ultrashort laser pulses.
• Ytterbium (Yb) lasers offer moderate pulse energies suitable for various applications.
• Achieving few-cycle pulse durations requires efficient pulse compression methods.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the use of solid-state-based multi-pass cells for robust and efficient pulse compression.
• To generate intense few-cycle pulses from ytterbium lasers with enhanced peak power.
• To explore the generation of broadband white light using enhanced self-steepening.

Main Methods:

• Utilized solid-state multi-pass cells and multiple plates for pulse compression.
• Employed ytterbium (Yb) laser pulses with initial parameters of 180 fs, 200 μJ at 50 kHz.
• Leveraged enhanced self-steepening effect for white light generation.

Main Results:

• Successfully compressed 180 fs pulses to 6.9 fs, achieving 144 μJ pulse energy.
• Enhanced peak power from 1.1 GW to 12.5 GW with excellent long-term power stability (0.1%).
• Generated over 1.5-octave-spanning white light (500 nm–1420 nm), with a Fourier transform limit pulse of 2.7 fs (0.8-cycle).

Conclusions:

• Solid-state multi-pass cells provide a robust and efficient alternative to gas-filled techniques for few-cycle pulse generation.
• The demonstrated method significantly boosts peak power and enables broadband spectral generation.
• This technique is promising for applications requiring intense, ultrashort optical pulses and broadband light sources.