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Title: Sub-two-cycle gigawatt-peak-power LWIR OPA for ultrafast nonlinear spectroscopy of condensed state materials
The application of high-power, few-cycle, long-wave infrared (LWIR, 8–20 µm) pulses in strong-field physics is largely unexplored due to the lack of suitable sources. However, the generation of intense pulses with >6 µm wavelength range is becoming increasingly feasible with the recent advances in high-power ultrashort lasers in the middle-infrared range that can serve as a pump for optical parametric amplifiers (OPA). Here we experimentally demonstrate the feasibility of this approach by building an OPA pumped at 2.4 µm that generates 93 µJ pulses at 9.5 µm, 1 kHz repetition rate with sub-two-cycle pulse duration, 1.6 GW peak power, and excellent beam quality. The results open a wide range of applications in attosecond physics (especially for studies of condensed phase samples), remote sensing, and biophotonics.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
1935885 2207439
PAR ID:
10469255
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ;
Publisher / Repository:
Optica Publishing Group
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Optics Letters
Volume:
48
Issue:
19
ISSN:
0146-9592
Page Range / eLocation ID:
4949
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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