4-W, 100-kHz, few-cycle mid-infrared source with sub-100-mrad carrier-envelope phase noise.

ABSTRACT

We demonstrate an optical parametric chirped-pulse amplifier delivering 4-cycles (38-fs) pulses centered around 3.1 µm at 100-kHz repetition rate with an average power of 4 W and an undersampled single-shot carrier-envelope phase noise of 81 mrad recorded over 25 min. The amplifier is pumped by a ~1.1 ps, Yb-YAG, thin-disk regenerative amplifier and seeded with a supercontinuum generated in bulk YAG from the same pump pulses. Carrier-envelope phase stability is passively achieved through difference-frequency generation between pump and seed pulses. An additional active stabilization at 10 kHz combining 2f-to-f interferometry and a LiNbO3 acousto-optic programmable dispersive filter achieves a record low phase noise.