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Efficient high-harmonic generation from a stable and compact ultrafast Yb-fiber laser producing 100 micro-joule, 350 fs pulses based on bendable photonic-crystal fiber

Efficient high-harmonic generation from a stable and compact ultrafast Yb-fiber laser producing 100 micro-joule, 350 fs pulses based on bendable photonic-crystal fiber
Efficient high-harmonic generation from a stable and compact ultrafast Yb-fiber laser producing 100 micro-joule, 350 fs pulses based on bendable photonic-crystal fiber
The development of an Yb3+-fiber based chirped-pulse amplification system and the performance in the generation of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) radiation by high-harmonic generation is reported. The fiber laser produced 100 µJ, 350 fs output pulses with diffraction limited beam quality at a repetition rate of 16.7 kHz. The system used commercial single-mode, polarization maintaining fiber technology. This included a 40 µm core, easily packaged, bendable final amplifier fiber in order to enable a compact system, to reduce cost, and provide reliable and environmentally stable long term performance. The system enabled the generation of 0.4 µW of EUV at wavelengths between 27-80 nm with a peak at ~45 nm using xenon gas. The EUV flux of ~1011 photons per second for a driving field power of 1.67 W represents state-of-the-art generation efficiency for single-fiber amplifier CPA systems, corresponding to a maximum calculated energy conversion efficiency of 2.4 x 10-7 from the infra-red to the EUV. The potential for high average power operation at increased repetition rates and further suggested technical improvements are discussed. Future applications could include coherent diffractive imaging in the EUV, and high-harmonic spectroscopy.
0946-2171
Feehan, James S.
8cd61da3-a8ac-4373-b785-36c8806f2047
Price, Jonathan H.V.
fddcce17-291b-4d01-bd38-8fb0453abdc8
Butcher, Thomas
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Brocklesby, William S.
c53ca2f6-db65-4e19-ad00-eebeb2e6de67
Frey, Jeremy G.
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Richardson, David J.
ebfe1ff9-d0c2-4e52-b7ae-c1b13bccdef3
Feehan, James S.
8cd61da3-a8ac-4373-b785-36c8806f2047
Price, Jonathan H.V.
fddcce17-291b-4d01-bd38-8fb0453abdc8
Butcher, Thomas
77bed03c-ae8f-4e12-8c35-974150a7cc2d
Brocklesby, William S.
c53ca2f6-db65-4e19-ad00-eebeb2e6de67
Frey, Jeremy G.
ba60c559-c4af-44f1-87e6-ce69819bf23f
Richardson, David J.
ebfe1ff9-d0c2-4e52-b7ae-c1b13bccdef3

Feehan, James S., Price, Jonathan H.V., Butcher, Thomas, Brocklesby, William S., Frey, Jeremy G. and Richardson, David J. (2017) Efficient high-harmonic generation from a stable and compact ultrafast Yb-fiber laser producing 100 micro-joule, 350 fs pulses based on bendable photonic-crystal fiber. Applied Physics B: Lasers and Optics, 123 (1), [43]. (doi:10.1007/s00340-016-6620-8).

Record type: Article

Abstract

The development of an Yb3+-fiber based chirped-pulse amplification system and the performance in the generation of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) radiation by high-harmonic generation is reported. The fiber laser produced 100 µJ, 350 fs output pulses with diffraction limited beam quality at a repetition rate of 16.7 kHz. The system used commercial single-mode, polarization maintaining fiber technology. This included a 40 µm core, easily packaged, bendable final amplifier fiber in order to enable a compact system, to reduce cost, and provide reliable and environmentally stable long term performance. The system enabled the generation of 0.4 µW of EUV at wavelengths between 27-80 nm with a peak at ~45 nm using xenon gas. The EUV flux of ~1011 photons per second for a driving field power of 1.67 W represents state-of-the-art generation efficiency for single-fiber amplifier CPA systems, corresponding to a maximum calculated energy conversion efficiency of 2.4 x 10-7 from the infra-red to the EUV. The potential for high average power operation at increased repetition rates and further suggested technical improvements are discussed. Future applications could include coherent diffractive imaging in the EUV, and high-harmonic spectroscopy.

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FeehanJ_AppPhysB_acceptedManuscript_Dec2016.pdf - Accepted Manuscript
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Accepted/In Press date: 12 December 2016
e-pub ahead of print date: 11 January 2017
Published date: January 2017
Additional Information: Funding: J. S. Feehan received EPSRC studentship funding during this work and J. H. V. Price was funded by a Royal Academy of Engineering Fellowship during part of this work. D. J. Richardson acknowledges support from a Wolfson Research Merit Award provided by the Royal Society. Part of the work was funded under a much earlier EPSRC Basic Technology grant (GR/R87307/01).
Organisations: Optoelectronics Research Centre

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 403853
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/403853
ISSN: 0946-2171
PURE UUID: d712f993-0957-4fec-8ed1-19a323a0db65
ORCID for Jonathan H.V. Price: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-0256-9172
ORCID for William S. Brocklesby: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-2123-6712
ORCID for Jeremy G. Frey: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0003-0842-4302
ORCID for David J. Richardson: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0002-7751-1058

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Date deposited: 14 Dec 2016 11:47
Last modified: 16 Mar 2024 02:40

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Contributors

Author: James S. Feehan
Author: Jonathan H.V. Price ORCID iD
Author: Thomas Butcher
Author: Jeremy G. Frey ORCID iD

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