title: Ultra-high-contrast few-cycle pulses for multipetawatt-class laser technology.
abstract: We report the generation of few-cycle multiterawatt light pulses with a temporal contrast of 10(10), when measured as close as 2 ps to the pulse's peak. Tens of picoseconds before the main pulse, the contrast value is expected to spread much beyond the measurement limit. Separate measurements of contrast improvement factors at different stages of the laser system indicate that real contrast values may reach 10(19) and 10(14), when measured 50 and 25 ps before the pulse's peak, respectively. The combination of the shortest pulse duration and the highest contrast renders our system a promising front-end architecture for future multipetawatt laser facilities.
authors.affiliation: Max-Planck-Institut für Quantenoptik, Hans-Kopfermann-Strasse 1, 85748 Garching, Germany. julia.mikhailova@mpq.mpg.de
authors.forename: Julia M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Mikhailova
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Buck
authors.forename: Antonin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Borot
authors.forename: Karl
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Schmid
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sears
authors.forename: George D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Tsakiris
authors.forename: Ferenc
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Krausz
authors.forename: Laszlo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Veisz