We present a novel approach for scaling the peak power of mid-infrared laser pulses with few-cycle duration and carrier-to-envelope phase stabilization. Using frequency domain optical parametric amplification (FOPA), selective amplification is performed on two spectral slices of broadband pulses centered at 1.8 µm wavelength. In addition to amplification, the Fourier plane is used for specific pulse shaping to control both the relative polarization and the phase/delay between the two spectral slices of the input pulses. At the output of the FOPA, intrapulse difference frequency generation provides carrier-envelope phase stabilized twocycle pulses centered at 9.5 µm with 25.5 µJ pulse energy. The control of the carrier-envelope phase is demonstrated through the dependence of high harmonic generation in solids. This architecture is perfectly adapted to be scaled in the future to high average and high peak 1 powers using picosecond Ytterbium laser technologies.
We present a novel approach for measuring the carrier-envelope phase (CEP) stability of a laser source by employing the process of high harmonic generation (HHG) in solids. HHG in solids driven by few-cycle pulses is very sensitive to the waveform of the driving pulse, therefore enabling to track the shot-to-shot CEP fluctuations of a laser source. This strategy is particularly practical for pulses at long central wavelength up to the mid-infrared spectral range where usual techniques used in the visible or near-infrared regions are challenging to transpose. We experimentally demonstrate this novel tool by measuring the CEP fluctuations of a mid-infrared laser source centered at 9.5 m.
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