Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Table-top sources of extreme ultraviolet (XUV) light based on high-harmonic generation (HHG) provide novel insight into the fundamental properties of molecules, nanomaterials, or correlated solids and are of interest for advanced applications. Extending HHG to high repetition rates is important for experiments, yet efficient XUV conversion of correspondingly weak driving pulses is challenging. Here, we demonstrate an efficient source of femtosecond XUV pulses at 50-kHz repetition rate using ultraviolet second-harmonic pulses focused tightly into Kr. As a result, a photon flux of about 10^14 s^-1 is generated at 22.3 eV, corresponding to 2?10^-4 conversion efficiency which surpasses our similar, direct-driven harmonics by two orders-of-magnitude. This enhancement exceeds the expected dipole scaling, evidencing improved phase-matching for ultraviolet-driven HHG under tight focusing as corroborated by simulations. Spectral isolation ofa single harmonic renders this efficient 50-kHz XUV source a highly valuable tool for ultrafast photoemission, nanoscale imaging and other experiments.