Generation of sub-2 cycle optical pulses with a differentially pumped hollow fiber

We report the generation of optical pulses with an energy of 0.55 m J and duration of 1.6-cycle (4.4 fs) at repetition rate of 1 kHz using a differentially pumped hollow fiber and chirped mirrors. Compared to the statically gasfilled scheme, the differentially pumping hollow fiber is demonstrated to support more energy output with higher transmission efficiency, and to increase the spectral broadening due to a reduction of ionization defocusing in plasma at the fiber entrance. The differentially pumping technique is proved to be an effective way to obtain optical pulses with mono-cycle and higher energy.