Synthesis of single-cycle pulses based on a Yb:KGW laser amplifier

Abstract

Yb:KGW lasers have been gaining increasing importance in ultrafast and strong-field physics, but their compression to the single- and sub- cycle regime remains a challenge. Here, we utilized a dual hollow-core fiber module for the spectral broadening of Yb:KGW pulses to more than 3.5 optical octaves, from the short-wave infrared (~1900 nm) to vacuum ultraviolet (~170 nm). A light-field-synthesizer compressed a large portion of this bandwidth (380-1000 nm) to single-cycle pulses for the first time, based on Yb:KGW technology. Our work opens the door to attaining new regimes of control and temporal compression of light pulses and their advanced applications in ultrafast spectroscopy.