1-MHz operation of 1.7-cycle multiple plate compression at 35-W average output power

Abstract

We generated 1.7-cycle and 35-$\mu$J pulses at a 1-MHz repetition rate by using two-stage multiple plate continuum compression of Yb-laser pulses with 80-W average input power. By adjusting the plate positions with careful consideration of the thermal lensing effect due to the high average power, we compressed the output pulse with a 184-fs initial duration to 5.7 fs by using only group-delay-dispersion compensation. This pulse achieved a sufficient beam quality ($M^2$ < 1.5) reaching a focused intensity over 10$^{14}$ W/cm$^2$ and a high spatial-spectral homogeneity (98%). Our study holds promise for a MHz-isolated-attosecond-pulse source for advanced attosecond spectroscopic and imaging technologies with unprecedentedly high signal-to-noise ratios.