Energetic sub-2-cycle laser with 220 W average power

TL;DR

This paper reports the development of a high-power, few-cycle laser system with 220 W average power, achieved through two-stage nonlinear compression, enabling new possibilities in attosecond science and high harmonic generation.

Contribution

The paper introduces the highest average power few-cycle laser system to date, utilizing a novel two-stage compression of a 660 W femtosecond fiber laser.

Findings

Achieved 408 W, 30 fs pulses in first compression stage.

Further compressed to 216 W, 6.3 fs pulses in second stage.

System sets new power record for few-cycle lasers.

Abstract

Few-cycle lasers are essential for many research areas such as attosecond physics that promises to address fundamental questions in science and technology. Therefore, further advancements are connected to significant progress in the underlying laser technology. Here, two-stage nonlinear compression of a 660 W femtosecond fiber laser system is utilized to achieve unprecedented average power levels of energetic ultrashort or even few-cycle laser pulses. In a first compression step 408 W, 320 uJ, 30fs pulses are achieved, which can be further compressed to 216 W, 170 uJ, 6.3 fs pulses in a second compression stage. This is the highest average power few-cycle laser system presented so far. It is expected to significantly advance the fields of high harmonic generation and attosecond science.