Characterizing the carrier-envelope phase stability of mid-infrared laser pulses by high harmonic generation in solids

A. Leblanc (1, 2) , P. Lassonde (1) , Gilles Dalla-Barba (3) , E. Cormier (3, 4) , H. Ibrahim (1) , F. Légaré (1)

1 Advanced Laser Light Source-INRS-EMT
2 LOA - Laboratoire d'optique appliquée
3 LP2N - Laboratoire Photonique, Numérique et Nanosciences
4 IUF - Institut universitaire de France

We present a novel approach for measuring the carrier-envelope phase (CEP) stability of a laser source by employing the process of high harmonic generation (HHG) in solids. HHG in solids driven by few-cycle pulses is very sensitive to the waveform of the driving pulse, therefore enabling to track the shot-to-shot CEP fluctuations of a laser source. This strategy is particularly practical for pulses at long central wavelength up to the mid-infrared spectral range where usual techniques used in the visible or near-infrared regions are challenging to transpose. We experimentally demonstrate this novel tool by measuring the CEP fluctuations of a mid-infrared laser source centered at 9.5 m.

Domaines: Sciences de l'ingénieur [physics]; Optique / photonique

A. Leblanc, P. Lassonde, Gilles Dalla-Barba, E. Cormier, H. Ibrahim, et al.. Characterizing the carrier-envelope phase stability of mid-infrared laser pulses by high harmonic generation in solids. Optics Express, 2020, 28, pp.17161. ⟨10.1364/OE.388465⟩. ⟨hal-02877710v1⟩