0.24 TW ultrabroadband, CEP-stable multipass Ti:Sa amplifier.

We demonstrate a single-stage, multipass Ti:sapphire amplifier capable of delivering sub-13 fs, 3.2 mJ pulses at a 1 kHz repetition rate. Gaussian filters are used to suppress the gain-narrowing effect, thereby enabling the achievement of an ultrabroadband flat-top spectrum with a FWHM>130 nm. The carrier-envelope phase (CEP) of the output pulses is actively stabilized via the feed-forward scheme (for the oscillator) and a fast 1 kHz f-to-2f interferometer, which corrects the amplifier-induced CEP drift. The single-shot 75 h CEP measurement yielded rms noise of <150 mrad.

Experimental study of fs-laser induced sub-100-nm periodic surface structures on titanium.

In this work the formation of laser-induced periodic surface structures (LIPSS) on a titanium surface upon irradiation by linearly polarized femtosecond (fs) laser pulses with a repetition rate of 1 kHz in air environment was studied experimentally. In particular, the dependence of high-spatial-frequency-LIPSS (HSFL) characteristics on various laser parameters: fluence, pulse number, wavelength (800 nm and 400 nm), pulse duration (10 fs - 550 fs), and polarization was studied in detail. In comparison with low-spatial-frequency-LIPSS (LSFL), the HSFL emerge at a much lower fluence with orientation perpendicular to the ridges of the LSFL. It was observed that these two types of LIPSS demonstrate different fluence, shot number and wavelength dependencies, which suggest their origin is different. Therefore, the HSFL formation mechanism cannot be described by the widely accepted interference model developed for describing LSFL formation.

Approaching the limits of carrier-envelope phase stability in a millijoule-class amplifier.

The demand for ever shorter light pulses presents a challenge to the detection and stabilization of the carrier-envelope phase (CEP) in amplifier systems. Here we present a combination of single-shot detection and a fast actuator that is capable of measuring and correcting the CEP in every single shot emitted by a millijoule-scale, multi-kHz femtosecond laser amplifier. The residual CEP noise within 50 s amounts to 98 mrad rms in-loop (fast detection, 5·105 shots) and 140 mrad out-of-loop (slow detection, 6250 shots), approaching the noise floor of the f-to-2f measurement. Both values represent a twofold improvement of the CEP stability over previously published results in comparable systems.

Long-term carrier-envelope-phase-stable few-cycle pulses by use of the feed-forward method.

The feed-forward technique has recently revolutionized carrier-envelope phase (CEP) stabilization, enabling unprecedented values of residual phase jitter. Nevertheless, its demonstrations have hitherto remained in a proof-of-principle state. Here we show that pulse quality and power issues can be solved, leading to few-cycle pulses with good beam quality. Making use of stable interferometers, we achieve day-long CEP-stable operation of the setup. Out-of-loop RMS phase noise amounts to less than 30 mrad in 20 s, with more than 24 h of CEP-locked operation being demonstrated.

Carrier-envelope phase stabilization and control using a transmission grating compressor and an AOPDF.

Carrier-envelope phase (CEP) stabilization of a femtosecond chirped-pulse amplification system featuring a compact transmission grating compressor is demonstrated. The system includes two amplification stages and routinely generates phase-stable (approximately 250 mrad rms) 2 mJ, 25 fs pulses at 1 kHz. Minimizing the optical pathway in the compressor enables phase stabilization without feedback control of the grating separation or beam pointing. We also demonstrate for the first time to the best of our knowledge, out-of-loop control of the CEP using an acousto-optic programmable dispersive filter inside the laser chain.