Characterization of sub-two-cycle pulses from a hollow-core fiber compressor in the spatiotemporal and spatiospectral domains

Abstract

We have post-compressed 25 fs (Fourier limit) amplified pulses in an argon-filled hollow-core fiber. The output pulses were compressed using a pair of wedges and chirped mirrors down to 4.5 fs (Fourier limit of 4.1 fs), which corresponds to less than two optical cycles. We then performed the characterization of the pulses by combining the d-scan and the STARFISH techniques. The temporal (and spectral) measurement of the pulses is done with d-scan, which is used as the reference to extend the characterization to the spatiotemporal (and spatiospectral) amplitude and phase of the pulses by means of STARFISH. The post-compressed pulses at the output of the hollow-fiber had an energy of 150 μJ. The analysis of the pulses revealed larger spectral broadening and blue-shift, and shorter duration at the center of the beam. For the first time, we demonstrate the complete characterization of intense ultra-broadband pulses in the sub-two-cycle regime, which provides an improved insight into the properties (space–time and space–frequency) of the pulses and is highly relevant for their applications.