Abstract
Abstract The dispersion of a pair of prisms is analyzed by means of a ray-tracing method operating at other than tip-to-tip propagation of the prisms, taking into consideration the limited spectral bandwidth. The variations of the group delay dispersion and the third-order dispersion for a pair of prisms are calculated with respect to the incident position and the separation between the prisms. The pair of prisms can provide a wide range of independent and continuous third-order dispersion compensation. The effect of residual third-order dispersion on the pulse contrast ratio and pulse duration is also calculated. The residual third-order dispersion not only worsens the pulse contrast ratio, but also increases the pulse duration to the hundreds of femtosecond range for a tens of femtosecond pulse, even when the residual third-order dispersion is small. These phenomena are helpful in compensating for the residual high-order dispersion and in understanding its effect on pulse contrast ratios and pulse durations in ultrashort laser systems.
Highlights
The chirped pulse amplification (CPA) technique[1, 2] is commonly used to build high-power laser systems for various experiments and applications, such as laser-driven plasma accelerators and fast ignition in inertial confinement fusion
The compressor can completely compensate for group delay dispersion (GDD) and partly compensate for third-order dispersion (TOD), which are generated by the stretcher and amplifier material[6, 7]
We find that the CaF2 prism pair can provide a smaller TOD, which is suitable for small residual TOD (RTOD) compensation (Figure 5)
Summary
The chirped pulse amplification (CPA) technique[1, 2] is commonly used to build high-power laser systems for various experiments and applications, such as laser-driven plasma accelerators and fast ignition in inertial confinement fusion. Compensating for the residual high-order dispersion is extremely important in the entire system to obtain the shortest pulse duration and highest pulse contrast, for ultrashort pulses (
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