Open AccessHigh-power OPCPA generating 17 cycle pulses at 25 µm
Author(s) -
Nicolas Bigler,
Justinas Pupeikis,
Stefan Hrisafov,
L. Gallmann,
Christopher Phillips,
U. Keller
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
optics express
Language(s) - Uncategorized
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.394
H-Index - 271
ISSN - 1094-4087
DOI - 10.1364/oe.26.026750
Subject(s) - optics , chirped pulse amplification , ultrashort pulse , bandwidth limited pulse , amplifier , femtosecond pulse shaping , pulse duration , pulse compression , materials science , pulse (music) , self phase modulation , optical parametric amplifier , dispersion (optics) , optical amplifier , pulse shaping , beam (structure) , power (physics) , signal (programming language) , nonlinear optics , laser , physics , optoelectronics , telecommunications , computer science , radar , cmos , quantum mechanics , detector , programming language
We present a high-power mid-infrared (mid-IR) optical parametric chirped-pulse amplifier (OPCPA) generating 14.4 fs pulses centered at 2.5 µm with an average power of 12.6 W and a repetition rate of 100 kHz. The short pulses are obtained without nonlinear pulse compression. This is in contrast to most few-cycle systems operating in the mid-IR. In our case, the ultrashort pulse duration is enabled by a careful design of the gain profile of each amplification stage as well as a precise control of the signal dispersion throughout the system. A pulse shaper is used in the seed beam to adjust the spectral phase at the output of the OPCPA system. This approach allows for a clean temporal profile leading to a high peak power of 6.3 GW.