Highly stable, 100 W average power from fiber-based ultrafast laser system at 1030 nm based on single-pass photonic-crystal rod amplifier

Abstract

We report on a fiber-based, Yb-doped, ultrafast laser system capable of outputting 100W average power at a repetition rate of 500kHz. The system uses chirped pulse amplification, employing a custom-made pulse-stretching fiber and a grating based compressor, to generate highly energetic, 330fs pulses at 1030nm. A diode-pumped photonic-crystal rod delivers amplification of pulses up to 400μJ while maintaining near diffraction-limited mode quality. The system is highly robust and offers excellent short and long term power stability.