High average power 88 W OPCPA system for high-repetition-rate experiments at the LCLS x-ray free-electron laser.

Abstract

We present a 100kHz, sub-20fs optical parametric chirped-pulse amplifier (OPCPA) system delivering 88.6W average power at a center wavelength of 800nm. The seed pulses are derived from the pump laser via white-light continuum generation and are amplified in three non-collinear OPCPA stages. The final two high-power stages are pumped with a 661W Yb:YAG InnoSlab amplifier. A simple and robust design is used for the OPCPA system to avoid thermal effects and enhance long-term stability, resulting in excellent beam quality and high conversion efficiency. To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest average power OPCPA system reported to date.