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

Compression of 250-fs, 1-mu J pulses from a KLM Yb:YAG thin-disk oscillator down to 9.1 fs is demonstrated. A kagome-PCF with a 36-mu m core-diameter is used with a pressure gradient from 0 to 40 bar of krypton. Compression to 22 fs is achieved by 1200 fs(2) group-delay-dispersion provided by chirped mirrors. By coupling the output into a second kagome-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. (C) 2015 Optical Society of America