Towards intense single-digit attosecond pulses with a 100-mJ-class mid-infrared sub-cycle laser

Abstract

The duration of isolated attosecond pulses created via high-order harmonic generation is determined by the number of optical cycles in the driving laser. Achieving shorter attosecond soft X-ray pulses requires minimizing the number of cycles while maintaining a high pulse energy. Here, we demonstrate a carrier-envelope-phase-stable, 100-mJ-class sub-cycle mid-infrared laser that produces a supercontinuum coherent soft X-ray with unprecedented bandwidth. The system delivers 50-mJ, 6.7-fs (0.88-cycle) pulses at a center wavelength of 2.26 $\mu$m - over two orders of magnitude more energetic than any previous sub-cycle laser. We applied the system to high-order harmonic generation and compared the results to simulations based on the three-dimensional time-dependent Schr\"odinger equation to identify unique features of sub-cycle lasers. This work represents a decisive step toward high-energy half-cycle lasers and high-energy single-digit attosecond soft X-ray pulses that can be used to probe matter and light-matter interactions at previously inaccessible temporal resolutions.