Abstract
A high-energy diode-pumped picosecond laser system centered at 1064 nm for optical parametric chirped pulse amplifier (OPCPA) pumping was demonstrated. The laser system was based on a master oscillator power amplifier configuration, which contained an Nd:YVO4 mode-locked seed laser, an LD-pumped Nd:YAG regenerative amplifier, and two double-pass amplifiers. A reflecting volume Bragg grating with a 0.1 nm reflective bandwidth was used in the regenerative amplifier for spectrum narrowing and pulse broadening to suit the pulse duration of the optical parametric amplifier (OPA) process. Laser pulses with an energy of 316.5 mJ and a pulse duration of 50 ps were obtained at a 100 Hz repetition rate. A top-hat beam distribution and a 0.53% energy stability (RMS) were achieved in this system.
Highlights
High energy, ultrafast laser in the mid-infrared is desirable for applications in strong field physics [1], high-harmonic generation [2], and driving X-ray sources [3]
We present a diode-pumped solid-state laser (DPSSL) amplification system based on a master oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) configuration, delivering 316.5 mJ, 50 ps pulse energy at a wavelength of 1064 nm and a repetition of 100 Hz
Faraday rotator; thin film polarizer (TFP): TFP: thin-film thin-film plate; plate; QWP: QWP: volume Bragg grating (VBG): volume volume Bragg quarter-wave plate; LD: laser diode; VBG: Pulses from the Nd:YVO4 mode-locked oscillator first pass through a half-wave plate (HWP), which works with a polarization beam splitter (PBS), to control the pulse energy injected into the amplification system by rotating the HWP
Summary
Ultrafast laser in the mid-infrared (mid-IR) is desirable for applications in strong field physics [1], high-harmonic generation [2], and driving X-ray sources [3]. A kHz, mJ-level OPCPA at 2.1 μm is reported with a high-energy cryogenic Yb:YAG pump laser [4]. The current limitation for a higher OPCPA output depends upon the development of high-energy picosecond pumping sources. Several investigations have been developed for the generation of high-energy OPCPA pump sources. A picosecond pump laser for IR OPCPA delivering 25 mJ at 3 kHz based on a Yb:YAG thin-disk amplifier has been reported [5]. A 100 mJ, 1 kHz laser output has been achieved as a pump for picosecond OPCPA based on Yb:YAG thin disk regenerative amplifier [6]. An OPCPA pump laser based on rod-shaped Nd:YAG crystals has been reported, producing 130 mJ, 64 ps pulses with a repetition of 300 Hz [7]. A reflecting volume Bragg grating was utilized in the regenerative amplifier to achieve temporal stretching of the laser pulses to suit the width of the signal laser pulses in the optical parametric
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