Optimisation of Quantum Trajectories Driven by Strong-field Waveforms

Quasi-free field-driven electron trajectories are a key element of strong-field dynamics. Upon recollision with the parent ion, the energy transferred from the field to the electron may be released as attosecond duration XUV emission in the process of high harmonic generation (HHG). The conventional sinusoidal driver fields set limitations on the maximum value of this energy transfer, and it has been predicted that this limit can be significantly exceeded by an appropriately ramped-up cycleshape. Here, we present an experimental realization of such cycle-shaped waveforms and demonstrate control of the HHG process on the single-atom quantum level via attosecond steering of the electron trajectories. With our optimized optical cycles, we boost the field-ionization launching the electron trajectories, increase the subsequent field-to-electron energy transfer, and reduce the trajectory duration. We demonstrate, in realistic experimental conditions, two orders of magnitude enhancement of the generated XUV flux together with an increased spectral cutoff. This application, which is only one example of what can be achieved with cycle-shaped high-field light-waves, has farreaching implications for attosecond spectroscopy and molecular self-probing

20-fs 1.6-mJ pulses from a cw-diode-pumped single-stage 1-kHz Yb amplifier

200-fs 2.5-mJ pulses from a fiber-oscillator-seeded DPSS Yb:CaF2 MOPA are spectrally broadened in Ar and recompressed to 20 fs using a pair of LAK14 prisms. Multi-millijoule 12-fs pulses are feasible upon higher-order spectral phase correction. © 2010 Optical Society of America

Mid-infrared laser filaments in the atmosphere

Filamentation of ultrashort laser pulses in the atmosphere offers unique opportunities for long-range transmission of high-power laser radiation and standoff detection. With the critical power of self-focusing scaling as the laser wavelength squared, the quest for longer-wavelength drivers, which would radically increase the peak power and, hence, the laser energy in a single filament, has been ongoing over two decades, during which time the available laser sources limited filamentation experiments in the atmosphere to the near-infrared and visible ranges. Here, we demonstrate filamentation of ultrashort mid-infrared pulses in the atmosphere for the first time. We show that, with the spectrum of a femtosecond laser driver centered at 3.9 um, right at the edge of the atmospheric transmission window, radiation energies above 20 mJ and peak powers in excess of 200 GW can be transmitted through the atmosphere in a single filament. Our studies reveal unique properties of mid-infrared filaments, where the generation of powerful mid-infrared supercontinuum is accompanied by unusual scenarios of optical harmonic generation, giving rise to remarkably broad radiation spectra, stretching from the visible to the mid-infrared

30-fs 1.6 mJ Pulses at a kHz repetition rate from a single stage DPSS Yb amplifier

200-fs 2.5-mJ pulses from a cw-diode-pumped Yb:CaF2 MOPA are spectrally broadened in Ar and recompressed to 30 fs at 980 nm using a prism pair. Multi-millijoule 12-fs pulses are feasible upon higher-order spectral phase correction. © 2010 Optical Society of America