Phase-locked multi-terahertz electric fields exceeding 13  MV/cm at a 190  kHz repetition rate.

We demonstrate a compact source of energetic and phase-locked multi-terahertz pulses at a repetition rate of 190 kHz. Difference frequency mixing of the fundamental output of an Yb:KGW amplifier with the idler of an optical parametric amplifier in GaSe and LiGaS2 crystals yields a passively phase-locked train of waveforms tunable between 12 and 42 THz. The shortest multi-terahertz pulses contain 1.8 oscillation cycles within the intensity full width at half-maximum. Pulse energies of up to 0.16 mu J and peak electric fields of 13 MV/cm are achieved. Electro-optic sampling reveals a phase stability better than 0.1 pi over multiple hours, combined with free carrier-envelope phase tunability. The scalable scheme opens the door to strong-field terahertz optics at unprecedented repetition rates. (C) 2017 Optical Society of America