Multi-gigawatt peak power post-compression in a bulk multi-pass cell at a high repetition rate.

The output of a 200kHz, 34W, 300fs ytterbium amplifier is compressed to 31fs with >88 efficiency to reach a peak power of 2.5GW, which to date is a record for a single-stage bulk multi-pass cell. Despite operation 80 times above the critical power for self-focusing in bulk material, the setup demonstrates excellent preservation of the input beam quality. Extensive beam and pulse characterizations are performed to show that the compressed pulses are promising drivers for high harmonic generation and nonlinear optics in gases or solids.