Octave-spanning supercontinuum coherent soft x-ray for producing a single-cycle soft x-ray pulse

This study demonstrates the potential to generate a soft x-ray single-cycle attosecond pulse using a single-cycle mid-infrared pulse from advanced dual-chirped optical parametric amplification (DC-OPA). A super continuum high harmonic (HH) spectrum was generated in argon (80–160 eV) and neon (150–270 eV). The experimental spectra reasonably agree with those calculated by the strong-field approximation model and Maxwell’s equations. In addition, simulation results indicate that the dispersion of HHs in argon can be compensated using a 207-nm Zr filter to obtain 40 as (Fourier transform limited (FTL)) pulses (1.1 cycles at 118 eV). For neon, a 278-nm Sn filter can compensate for the dispersion of HH and create 23 as FTL pulses (1.1 cycles at 206 eV). This soft x-ray single-cycle attosecond pulse is expected to be highly valuable for ultrafast science and applications in quantum information science.