High Energy Few-Cycle Pulse Post-Compression in a Single Thin-Plate with a Spatially-Uniform Beam Profile

This study presents the investigation of the previously scarcely explored high energy few-cycle post-compression regime. Experimental shortening of the 5 mJ, 830 nm and 7.7 fs pulse with a flat-top spatial profile was pursuit by nonlinear spectral broadening in a single 1\,mm thick fused silica plate. The results show 3.8 + 0.20 - 0.11 fs pulse duration with a 64 + 2 - 5 % relative peak power. The achieved spatial-spectral homogeneity was 97.1 %. The deformable mirror wavefront correction to the Strehl ratio of 0.88 and simple numerical model spectral properties prediction capabilities were shown. The presented research might enable the future generation of high energy and quality single-cycle super-octave pulses.