Generation of sub-50 fs pulses from a high-power Yb-doped fiber amplifier.

We demonstrate the generation of 48 fs pulses with 18 W average power and 226 nJ of pulse energy from a Yb-doped fiber amplifier. The system uses a simple stretcher-free single-stage amplifier configuration operating in the parabolic pulse regime. The gain fiber length and pump wavelength are chosen in order to reduce the gain per unit length and generate both shorter pulses and higher pulse energy.