Few-cycle short-wave-infrared light source for strong-field experiments at 200 kHz repetition rate

We present a compact, few-cycle, short-wave infrared light source delivering 13 mu J, carrier-envelope phase (CEP) stable pulses around 2 mu m, operating at 200 kHz repetition rate. Starting from an ytterbium fiber amplifier, the seed is produced via white-light generation followed by difference frequency generation, and later amplified in two BiBO nonlinear crystals. A pulse duration of 15.8 fs is measured with the dispersion scan technique, while the CEP stability is assessed via a monolithic spectral interferometry scheme. We demonstrate the potential of the system to drive strong-field experiments by performing high-order harmonic generation in argon gas. Published by Optica Publishing Group under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article's title, journal citation, and DOI.

Automated summary

This article presents a compact and stable short-wave infrared light source capable of delivering few-cycle pulses with a wavelength of around 2 µm and a repetition rate of 200 kHz, with carrier-envelope phase stability. The potential of the system for driving strong-field experiments is demonstrated through high-order harmonic generation.