Open AccessInvestigation of two-beam-pumped noncollinear optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification for the generation of few-cycle light pulses
Author(s) -
Daniel Herrmann,
Raphael Tautz,
F. Tavella,
Ferenc Krausz,
László Veisz
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.18.004170
Subject(s) - optics , optical parametric amplifier , chirped pulse amplification , signal beam , pulse (music) , ultrashort pulse , materials science , beam (structure) , signal (programming language) , parametric statistics , regenerative amplification , physics , pulse compression , phase (matter) , laser , optical amplifier , telecommunications , statistics , radar , mathematics , detector , computer science , programming language , quantum mechanics
We demonstrate a new and compact Phi-plane-pumped noncollinear optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification (NOPCPA) scheme for broadband pulse amplification, which is based on two-beam-pumping (TBP) at 532 nm. We employ type-I phase-matching in a 5 mm long BBO crystal with moderate pump intensities to preserve the temporal pulse contrast. Amplification and compression of the signal pulse from 675 nm - 970 nm is demonstrated, which results in the generation of 7.1-fs light pulses containing 0.35 mJ energy. In this context, we investigate the pump-to-signal energy conversion efficiency for TBP-NOPCPA and outline details for few-cycle pulse characterization. Furthermore, it is verified, that the interference at the intersection of the two pump beams does not degrade the signal beam spatial profile. It is theoretically shown that the accumulated OPA phase partially compensates for wave-vector mismatch and leads to extended broadband amplification. The experimental outcome is supported by numerical split-step simulations of the parametric signal gain, including pump depletion and parametric fluorescence.