Ultra-short-pulse high-average-power Megahertz-repetition-rate coherent extreme-ultraviolet light source

TL;DR

This paper presents a highly powerful, ultrafast, table-top extreme-ultraviolet light source based on high harmonic generation, significantly increasing photon flux and enabling advanced ultrafast scientific studies.

Contribution

Demonstration of the most powerful table-top XUV source with high photon flux and sub-6 fs pulse duration using a fibre laser-based HHG system.

Findings

12.9 mW photon flux at 26.5 eV achieved

Sub-6 fs pulse duration in XUV range demonstrated

Significant advancement in XUV source brightness and ultrafast capabilities

Abstract

High harmonic generation (HHG) enables coherent extreme-ultraviolet (XUV) radiation with ultra-short pulse duration in a table-top setup. This has already enabled a plethora of applications. Nearly all of these applications would benefit from a high photon flux to increase the signal-to-noise ratio and decrease measurement times. In addition, shortest pulses are desired to investigate fastest dynamics in fields as diverse as physics, biology, chemistry and material sciences. In this work, the up-to-date most powerful table-top XUV source with 12.9 mW in a single harmonic line at 26.5 eV is demonstrated via HHG of a frequency-doubled and post-compressed fibre laser. At the same time sub-6 fs XUV pulse duration allows accessing ultrafast dynamics with an order of magnitude higher photon flux than previously demonstrated. This concept will greatly advance and facilitate applications of XUV radiation in science and technology and enable photon-hungry ultrafast studies.