70 mJ nonlinear compression and scaling route for an Yb amplifier using large-core hollow fibers

In this Letter, we investigate the energy-scaling rules of hollow-core fiber (HCF)-based nonlinear pulse propagation and compression merged with high-energy Yb-laser technology, in a regime where the effects such as plasma disturbance, optical damages, and setup size become important limiting parameters. As a demonstration, 70 mJ 230 fs pulses from a high-energy Yb laser amplifier were compressed down to 40 mJ 25 fs by using a 2.8-m-long stretched HCF with a core diameter of 1 mm, resulting in a record peak power of 1.3 TW. This work presents a critical advance of a high-energy pulse (hundreds of mJ level) nonlinear interactions platform based on high energy sub-ps Yb technology with considerable applications, including driving intense THz, X-ray pulses, Wakefield acceleration, parametric wave mixing and ultraviolet generation, and tunable long-wavelength generation via enhanced Raman scattering. (C) 2021 Optical Society of America

Automated summary

This Letter investigates the energy-scaling rules of hollow-core fiber-based nonlinear pulse propagation and compression merged with high-energy Yb-laser technology. A demonstration shows that high-energy Yb laser amplifier pulses were compressed down to a record peak power. This work presents a critical advance of a high-energy pulse nonlinear interactions platform with potential applications in various fields such as intense THz, X-ray pulses, and Wakefield acceleration.