Compressing μJ-level pulses from 250 fs to sub-10 fs at 38-MHz repetition rate using two gas-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fiber stages

K F Mak; M Seidel; O Pronin; M H Frosz; A Abdolvand; V Pervak; A Apolonski; F Krausz; J C Travers; P St J Russell

doi:10.1364/OL.40.001238

Compressing μJ-level pulses from 250 fs to sub-10 fs at 38-MHz repetition rate using two gas-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fiber stages

Opt Lett. 2015 Apr 1;40(7):1238-41. doi: 10.1364/OL.40.001238.

Authors

K F Mak, M Seidel, O Pronin, M H Frosz, A Abdolvand, V Pervak, A Apolonski, F Krausz, J C Travers, P St J Russell

PMID: 25831302
DOI: 10.1364/OL.40.001238

Abstract

Compression of 250-fs, 1-μJ pulses from a KLM Yb:YAG thin-disk oscillator down to 9.1 fs is demonstrated. A kagomé-PCF with a 36-μm core-diameter is used with a pressure gradient from 0 to 40 bar of krypton. Compression to 22 fs is achieved by 1200 fs² group-delay-dispersion provided by chirped mirrors. By coupling the output into a second kagomé-PCF with a pressure gradient from 0 to 25 bar of argon, octave spanning spectral broadening via the soliton-effect is observed at 18-W average output power. Self-compression to 9.1 fs is measured, with compressibility to 5 fs predicted. Also observed is strong emission in the visible via dispersive wave generation, amounting to 4% of the total output power.