CEP-Stable, Few-Cycle, kHz OPCPAs for attosecond science: Energy scaling and coherent sub-cycle pulse synthesis

Abstract

We report on the energy scaling and coherent waveform synthesis of a carrier-envelope phase (CEP)-stable, few-cycle, kHz-repetition-rate optical parametric chirped-pulse amplifiers (OPCPAs) for high-field physics applications. First, amplification of ultrabroadband 2.1-μm pulses to 0.85mJ is demonstrated using a novel high-energy, ps, cryogenic Yb:YAG pump laser. Pulse compression to 4.5 optical cycles has been achieved. Initial high-harmonic generation (HHG) experiments with Xe have shown a significant cutoff extension to >85 eV. Second, we have coherently synthesized the 2.1-μm pulse with a CEP-stable, few-cycle near-infrared OPCPA pulse seeded by the same laser oscillator and generated a 15-μJ sub-cycle waveform. Simulations confirm that this waveform is suitable for isolated attosecond pulse generation. The pulse synthesis method can be extended to a novel energy-scalable wavelength multiplexing scheme based on multi-color OPCPAs. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2012.