Oscillator driven high harmonic generation
Several applications would significantly benefit from XUV sources with high (megahertz) repetition rates, such as experiments where rare events need to be detected or where surface charge effects should be avoided, for example coincidence detection or surface science experiments.
There has been significant progress in high-power ultrafast laser systems in recent years which enabled numerous advances in the pursuit of high-repetition rate high-harmonic generation (HHG) (> 100 kHz) during the last decade. SESAM modelocked thin-disk lasers (TDLs) are excellent sources to drive HHG as they achieve high pulse energies directly from the output of a compact multi-megahertz laser oscillator.
We recently demonstrated a compact XUV source based on high harmonic generation at 2.4 MHz repetition rate from the compressed output of a modelocked thin disk laser oscillator. Focusing into a high-pressure Xenon gas jet with a peak intensity of 5.5x1013 W/cm2 we generate XUV radiation with up to >5x107 photons/s on the 19th harmonic (23 eV).
Our compact XUV source based on HHG at 2.4 MHz repetition rate from the compressed output of a modelocked thin disk laser oscillator opens the path towards the next generation of compact high-repetition rate coherent XUV sources driven directly by low‑noise passively modelocked diode-pumped solid-state laser oscillators.
More details in our recent publication: external page"Compact extreme ultraviolet source at megahertz pulse repetition rate with a low-noise ultrafast thin-disk laser oscillator" - DownloadDownload (PDF, 2.7 MB)