Fig. 1. Schematic of the experimental setup showing the two compression stages. F1–F4, lenses; M1, M2, reflective mirrors; CM1–CM4, chirped mirrors; HWP, half-wave plate; PBS, polarizing beam splitter. The right inset shows the autocorrelation trace of the laser source; the left inset in the setup represents the scanning electron micrograph of the HC-PCF with a core diameter of 68 µm and a wall thickness of ∼0.3 µm.

Fig. 2. Diagnosis results of the first stage. (a) Spectral broadening in log scale with different numbers of plates in the first stage; the inset is the beam profile after the iris. (b) Intensity autocorrelation trace after phase compensation in the first stage; (c) retrieved temporal intensity envelope and phase after phase compensation in the first stage by PICASO algorithm and the TL pulse.

Fig. 3. (a) Simulated spectral evolutions in the 45-cm-long HC-PCF; (b) experimental and simulated spectral outputs are compared. The red line indicates the GVD.

Fig. 4. (a) Intensity autocorrelation trace of the 1.6 µJ pulses after phase compensation in the second stage; (b) retrieved temporal intensity envelope and phase of the 1.6 µJ pulses after phase compensation in the second stage by PICASO algorithm and the TL pulse.

Fig. 5. Intensity autocorrelation trace of the 2 µJ pulses after phase compensation in the second stage.