A 17-W, mid-IR parametric amplifier driven by a Yb:YAG thin-disk laser and its application to high harmonic generation in solids

Synopsis We developed a carrier-envelope phase-stable, KTA parametric amplifier delivering 17-W mid-IR pulses (signal: 1.4 micron, idler: 3.8 micron) at a 100-kHz rep. rate. The key aspect is stable generation of supercontinuum seed pulses with 1.4-ps pulses, which are the longest for supercontinuum generation on its longer wavelength side. This technology offers a robust architecture with characteristics of stable phases, simple dispersion management, wavelength tunability for 1.3-4.5 micron, and this high photon flux opens novel statistics-driven spectroscopy for rare events in strong field physics.