Sub-250-mrad, passively carrier–envelope-phase-stable mid-infrared OPCPA source at high repetition rate

Thai, Alexandre; Hemmer, Michaël; Bates, Philip K.; Chalus, Olivier; Biegert, J.

doi:10.1364/ol.36.003918

Cited by 92 publications

(73 citation statements)

References 13 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Indeed, recent progress in HHG using mid-infrared driving lasers has pushed the photon energy up to a few-keV region [54], while attosecond pulses in the soft x-ray up to 0.5 keV have been reported using a transient phase-matching mechanism [55]. Recent development in laser sources with high repetition rates of hundreds of kHz [56,57] as well as improved phase matching with waveguide setup will likely increase the HHG yields further in the near future. The x-ray pulses with duration down to a few femtoseconds are also becoming available at XFEL facilities such as LCLS (at Stanford) [3], SACLA (Japan) [4,5], and FLASH (Hamburg), depending on the photon energy range.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Probing and extracting the structure of vibratingSF6molecules with inner-shell photoelectrons

et al. 2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

We propose a scheme for probing the structure of vibrating molecules with photoelectrons generated from ultrashort soft-x-ray pulses. As an example we analyze below-100-eV photoelectrons liberated from the S(2p) orbital of vibrating SF 6 molecules to image very small structural changes of molecular vibration. In particular, photoionization cross sections and photoelectron angular distributions (PAD) at nonequilibrium geometries can be retrieved accurately with photoelectrons near the shape resonance at 13 eV. This is achieved with a pump-probe scheme, in which the symmetric stretch mode is first Raman excited predominantly by a relatively short laser pulse and then later probed at different time delays by a few-femtosecond soft-x-ray pulse with photon energy near 200 eV.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Probing and extracting the structure of vibratingSF6molecules with inner-shell photoelectrons

et al. 2016

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Finally, the CEP stability of the system has been measured and reported previously [9] to be greater than 250 mrad rms over 30 min. Such stability at 160 kHz corresponds-in terms of CEP stable laser shots-to 30 h of operation on a typical kHz repetition rate system.…”

mentioning

confidence: 87%

18- \mu J energy, 160-kHz repetition rate, 250-MW peak power mid-IR OPCPA

Hemmer¹,

Thai²,

Baudisch³

et al. 2013

中国光学快报

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Progresses on the development of a high repetition rate mid-IR laser source suitable for the next generation of high-field physics experiments are reported. The presented optical parametric chirped pulse amplification (OPCPA) source currently delivers carrier-envelope phase (CEP)-stable 67-fs duration optical pulses with up to 18-µJ output energy at 160-kHz repetition rate. The focusability of the output beam (M 2 ∼2) enables peak intensities exceeding 10 14 W/cm 2 and the record output energy stability-below 1% power fluctuation over 4.5 h makes this source a key enabler for the strong field physics community.OCIS codes: 320.7090, 190.4970. doi: 10.3788/COL201311.013202. Over the past ten years, optical parametric chirped pulse amplification (OPCPA) has been identified as a complementary approach to the more traditional chirped pulse amplification (CPA) technique to further extend the output parameters of high intensity laser systems [1] . In particular, optical parametric amplification (OPA) enables the amplification of spectral bandwidth spanning hundreds of nanometers-following the amplification of few-cycle pulses-and also permits amplification in spectral region in which no suitable laser gain media are available. Additionally, the instantaneous nature of the parametric amplification process promises simultaneous scalability of output energy and repetition rate.As an illustration of the versatility of the OPCPA architecture, a number of laser systems have been reported over the past few years, operating in a wide range of output energy, repetition rate, and center wavelength ranges. Systems approaching the petawatt (PW) peak power have been developed providing 24 J of energy in 43 fs pulses at a repetition rate of one shot every 30 min at 910 nm wavelength [2] . Repetition rate scaling of such high peak power systems is ongoing with the development of a PW-class laser system delivering few-cycle pulses at 10-Hz repetition rate [3,4] , again in the near-IR spectral region. Simultaneously, OPCPA systems operating at hundreds of kilohertz repetition rate and delivering up to tens of millijoule (µJ) energy have also been developed still in the near-IR spectral region [5,6] . More recently, developments in strong-field physics have triggered large interest in laser systems with center wavelength longer than 800 nm, which resulted in the development of laser systems operating in the 2-µm spectral region. In particular, Hong et al. reported on an OPCPA system delivering 850 µJ of output energy at 1-kHz repetition rate with center wavelength at 2 100 nm [7] . Here, we present the latest in our several-year development towards a laser system operating in the true mid-IR spectral range and at high repetition rate. This tabletop system delivers carrier-envelope phase (CEP) stable optical pulses with 67 fs duration, up to 18 µJ of output energy at 160-kHz repetition rate and 3 100-nm center wavelength. Contrary to a number of other reported systems, the long term output power stability was measured and is here rep...

show abstract

“…We verify carrier-envelope phase stability and shot-to-shot repeatability. Simulations indicate an absence of complex pulse splitting and self-compression of the pump pulse by a factor of 10.The pump pulses were produced with an optical parametric chirped pulse amplifier (OPCPA), which delivered carrier-envelope phase stable 85 fs pulses at 3100 nm center wavelength and with a repetition rate of 160 kHz [12]. The setup for generating and measuring the supercontinuum is shown in Fig.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The pump pulses were produced with an optical parametric chirped pulse amplifier (OPCPA), which delivered carrier-envelope phase stable 85 fs pulses at 3100 nm center wavelength and with a repetition rate of 160 kHz [12]. The setup for generating and measuring the supercontinuum is shown in Fig.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Multi-octave supercontinuum generation from mid-infrared filamentation in a bulk crystal

Austin

Silva

Thai

et al. 2013

EPJ Web of Conferences

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract. We present supercontinuum generation pumped by femtosecond mid-infrared pulses in a bulk homogeneous material. The spectrum extends from 450 nm into the midinfrared, and carries high spectral energy density (3 pJ/nm-10 nJ/nm). The supercontinuum has high shot-to-shot reproducibility and preserves the carrier-to-envelope phase. Our result paves the way for compact supercontinuum sources with unprecedented bandwidth.Bright, broadband and coherent light sources are required, for example, in optical coherence tomography [1], time-resolved spectroscopy [2] and microscopy [3]. Such supercontinua are also a step towards arbitrary multi-color waveform synthesis, which offers simultaneous probing and control [4] of electronic, vibrational and rotational motion, or synthesizing single cycle waveforms at arbitrary wavelengths [5]. These applications place widely varying demands on the characteristics of a supercontinuum source. Novel optical fibers can yield supercontinua spanning the ultraviolet into the midinfrared [6][7][8]. However, a requirement for shot-to-shot repeatability and a smooth spectrum limits the allowable propagation length, restricting the bandwidth [7]. Spectral broadening in bulk materials, in contrast, has thus far not achieved bandwidths comparable to those from fibers. In particular, long wavelength extensions of the spectrum are inefficient and require extreme conditions [9][10][11]. This suggests the necessity of increasing the pump wavelength to extend the long wavelength edge of the supercontinuum, but raises the question of whether a corresponding red shift of the short wavelength edge will occur.Here, we present a supercontinuum produced by filamentation of femtosecond mid-infrared pulses in bulk yttrium aluminium garnet (YAG) crystal. The spectrum spans 450-4500 nm, the broadest ever produced by filamentation in bulk. We verify carrier-envelope phase stability and shot-to-shot repeatability. Simulations indicate an absence of complex pulse splitting and self-compression of the pump pulse by a factor of 10.The pump pulses were produced with an optical parametric chirped pulse amplifier (OPCPA), which delivered carrier-envelope phase stable 85 fs pulses at 3100 nm center wavelength and with a repetition rate of 160 kHz [12]. The setup for generating and measuring the supercontinuum is shown in Fig. 1(a). Pulses of 6.9 µJ energy were collimated to 4 mm diameter and were focused by a 75 mm focal length CaF 2 lens to a 1/e 2 diameter of 50 µm. The peak power was 76 MW which is approximately three times the critical power for YAG. The 2 mm-thick YAG plate was placed in the focal region, producing a clearly visible filament. We observed no irregular or interference patterns typically indicative of multifilamentation. At a distance of 54 mm after the exit plane of the YAG plate, we acquired an angularly-resolved {θ, λ} spectrum which provided our connection to the theory and This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 2.0, which per...

show abstract

Sub-250-mrad, passively carrier–envelope-phase-stable mid-infrared OPCPA source at high repetition rate

Cited by 92 publications

References 13 publications

Probing and extracting the structure of vibratingSF6molecules with inner-shell photoelectrons

Probing and extracting the structure of vibratingSF6molecules with inner-shell photoelectrons

18- \mu J energy, 160-kHz repetition rate, 250-MW peak power mid-IR OPCPA

Multi-octave supercontinuum generation from mid-infrared filamentation in a bulk crystal

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About