Supercontinuum amplification by Kerr instability

The versatility of optical parametric amplifiers makes them excellent sources for ultrashort visible and infrared pulses that drive strong-field physics experiments. We extend four-wave optical parametric amplification to the strong-field regime, known as Kerr instability amplification, and experimentally verify the modified noncollinear conditions for optimum amplification. We confirm that Kerr instability amplification can be used to amplify spectra that span nearly an octave in a single beam. We also amplify the near-infrared portion of the spectrum to generate the third harmonic downstream.