Optical parametric chirped-pulse amplifier as an alternative to Ti:sapphire regenerative amplifiers

We demonstrated a high-pulse energy, femtosecond-pulse source based on optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification. We successfully amplified 1-microm broadband oscillator pulses to 31 mJ and recompressed them to 310-fs pulse duration, at a 10-Hz repetition rate. The gain in our system is 6 x 10(7), achieved by the single passing of only 40 mm of gain material pumped by a commercial Q-switched Nd:YAG laser. This relatively simple system replaces a more complex Ti:sapphire regenerative-amplifier-based chirped-pulse amplification system. Numerous features in design and performance of optical parametric chirped-pulse amplifiers make them a preferred alternative to regenerative amplifiers based on Ti:sapphire in the front end of high-peak-power lasers.     

Compact multi-pass amplifier for chirped-pulse amplification

A compact and simple multi-pass amplifier configuration suited for chirped-pulse amplification that can fit about 16 passes is presented. This configuration uses a pair of spherical mirrors with a diameter of two inches, and a sapphire window to shift the path of the seed beam and allow easy extraction from the amplifier. We present experimental results obtained using eight passes with this configuration, together with calculations for the gain achievable with the presented configuration.     

High-energy hybrid Raman optical parametric amplifier eye safe laser source

A high-energy eye safe laser source at 1.54 μm is demonstrated experimentally by using a hybrid system of stimulated Raman scattering and optical parametric amplification pumped by a single 1.06-μm Nd:YAG laser source. This system overcomes some of the technical problems that occur in conventional eye safe lasers, such as optical breakdown and thermal blooming in the Raman laser, and thermal conduction problems in the erbium-doped glass solid-state laser that limit the repetition rate when high-energy output is sought. Thus this hybrid design provides a simple system that could provide a high pulse energy output (> 50 mJ) at a repetition rate of greater than 10 Hz.     

Broad-spectrum neodymium-doped laser glasses for high-energy chirped-pulse amplification

We have investigated two novel laser glasses in an effort to generate high-energy, broad-spectrum pulses from a chirped-pulse amplification Nd:glass laser. Both glasses have significantly broader spectra (>38 nm FWHM) than currently available Nd:phosphate and Nd:silicate glasses. We present calculations for small signal pulse amplification to simulate spectral gain narrowing. The technique of spectral shaping using mixed-glass architecture with an optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification front end is evaluated. Our modeling shows that amplified pulses with energies exceeding 10 kJ with sufficient bandwidth to achieve 120 fs pulsewidths are achievable with the use of the new laser glasses. With further development of current technologies, a laser system could be scaled to generate one exawatt in peak power.     

Low-frequency parametric amplifier with a selenium rectifier

Measurement Techniques -     

Optimization of a chirped-pulse amplification Nd:glass laser

To allow us to achieve the highest focused intensity from a chirped-pulse amplification Nd:glass laser, a number of features of the system have been considered and optimized. These include the compressor geometry, the system aberrations, and the use of mixed glasses in the amplifier chain. Calculations for the laser with a single- or double-pass pulse compressor with 450-mm gratings are presented. These indicate that, for single pass, a reduction in pulse duration from 380 to 237 fs is possible when a phosphate is changed to a mixed phosphate-silicate glass system, and there is a corresponding increase of 44% in peak intensity at beam focus.     

Quantum travelling-wave analysis of a quasi-phase-matched parametric amplifier

The paper describes a phase-mismatched Fokker–Planck equation formulation for parametric amplification in periodically inverted nonlinear media. An analytical solution of the phase-mismatched Fokker–Planck equation and the amplitude quantum fluctuation after passing through the quasi-phase-matched (QPM) device are obtained. The calculated results for the QPM device conform to that of the Langevin equation in the case of no loss k=0, and give a general solution for k≠0. From this one can derive knowledge of the dependence of squeezing on the loss coefficient k and make a comparison between the QPM device and a phase matched device at the threshold k=ε₀.     

Alignment of a tiled-grating compressor in a high-power chirped-pulse amplification laser system

We present a novel technique to align a tiled grating in all five relevant degrees of freedom utilized in the compressor of the high-power chirped-pulse amplification laser system POLARIS at the Institute for Optics and Quantum Electronics, Jena, Germany. With this technique, alignment errors of the two gratings with respect to each other can be detected with an accuracy of 1 microrad for the rotational and 40 nm for the translational degrees of freedom. This is well sufficient to recompress 1030 nm pulses, which were stretched to 2.2 ns before amplification, to their bandwith limit of 150 fs.     

Theoretical analysis of a noncollinear phase-matched optical parametric amplifier seeded by an optical parametric generation

We have theoretically analyzed the characteristics of an optical parametric amplifier system seeded by an optical parametric generation. We investigated the influences of the energy, pulse duration, material dispersion, and the third-order nonlinear effect in beta-barium borate. The group-velocity mismatch (GVM) becomes the most important factor for the amplification of bandwidths. Even though tilting the wave front of the pump can decrease the GVM, it seems impossible to generate pulses smaller than 10-fs with 400-nm pumping. However, 10-fs pulses can be achieved with a 30-fs pump duration with pumping at 800 nm.     

Optical integrator for optical dark-soliton detection and pulse shaping

The design and analysis of an Nth-order optical integrator using the digital filter technique is presented. The optical integrator is synthesized using planar-waveguide technology. It is shown that a first-order optical integrator can be used as an optical dark-soliton detector by converting an optical dark-soliton pulse into an optical bell-shaped pulse for ease of detection. The optical integrators can generate an optical step function, staircase function, and paraboliclike functions from input optical Gaussian pulses. The optical integrators may be potentially used as basic building blocks of all-optical signal processing systems because the time integrals of signals may sometimes be required for further use or analysis. Furthermore, an optical integrator may be used for the shaping of optical pulses or in an optical feedback control system.     

The tripartite entanglement in a phase-mismatched frequency non-degenerated optical parametric amplifier

We present an analytical solution for Fokker–Planck equation of phase-mismatched frequency non-degenerated optical parametric amplifier (FNOPA). We investigate the continuous-variable (CV) tripartite entanglement characteristic of FNOPA working at phase-matched and phase-mismatched condition. From below threshold to above threshold, we numerically calculate the dependence of CV tripartite entanglement on relative loss parameter η and phase-mismatched factor Δω. The larger η and the smaller Δω can bring a good entanglement.     

Optical parametric oscillator pumped by a Bessel beam

We demonstrate operation of a KTP optical parametric oscillator (OPO) pumped by a Bessel beam for the first time to our knowledge. It is shown that the output of the OPO has a transverse profile, which is consistent with noncollinear phase-matching relations defined by a conical pump. The central spot and ring related to the pair of signal and idler beams were generated in the OPO. By adjusting the OPO cavity mirrors, we easily selected the lowest-order mode as well as the higher-order transverse modes in the central spot. Bessel beam pumping was shown to be useful, providing tubular beam coupling into OPO cavity modes. The OPO threshold pump energy was ~100 muJ in a 6-ns pulse.     

Large Ti-doped sapphire single crystals grown by the kyropoulos technique for petawatt power laser application

Large diameter Ti-doped sapphire single crystals were grown by the Kyropoulos technique. The optical characterizations (luminescence, transmittance, evaluation of the FOM) of these bulk crystals are presented. The presented results are promising for the growth of large Ti-doped sapphire crystals by Kyroupolos technology for petawatt scale amplifier.     

Asymmetrical prism for beam shaping of laser diode stacks

A beam-shaping scheme for a laser diode stack to obtain a flattop output intensity profile is proposed. The shaping element consists of an asymmetrical glass prism. The large divergence-angle compression in the direction perpendicular to the junction plane and the small divergence-angle expansion in the parallel direction are performed simultaneously by a single shaping element. The transformation characteristics are presented, and the optimization performance is investigated based on the ray-tracing method. Analysis shows that a flattop intensity profile can be obtained. This beam-shaping system can be fabricated easily and has a large alignment tolerance.     

Acoustooptic 2-D profile shaping of a Gaussian laser beam

Acoustooptic 2-D profile shaping of a Gaussian laser beam has been achieved by two plane ultrasonic waves progressing in orthogonal directions. The spot size W of the Gaussian laser beam must be considerable less than the wavelength lambda of the ultrasonic wave at the acoustooptic interaction region. The ultrasonic cell is dealt with as a Raman-Nath 2-D phase grating but serves as a 2-D beam deflector in time for the interaction scheme of interest. The wave front of the Gaussian laser beam must be almost plane in the interaction region. The profile shaping condition is 0.15 < or = (W/lambda) < or = 0.30 only when the Raman-Nath parameter dependent on the ultrasonic power has values between v = 1.0 and 2.0.     

Highly efficient, widely tunable, 10-Hz parametric amplifier pumped by frequency-doubled femtosecond Ti:sapphire laser pulses

We report a 10-Hz, highly efficient, widely tunable (from the visible to the IR), broadband femtosecond optical parametric generator and optical parametric amplifier (OPA) in BBO, LBO, and CBO crystals pumped by the frequency-doubled output of a regeneratively amplified Ti:sapphire laser at 400 nm. The output of the system is continuously tunable from 440 nm to 2.5 mum with a maximum overall efficiency of ~25% at 670 nm and an optical conversion efficiency of more than 36% in the OPA stage. The effects of the seed beam energy, the type of the crystal and the crystal length, and the pumping energy of the output of the OPA, such as the optical efficiency, the bandwidth, the pulse duration, and the group velocity mismatch between the signal and the idler and between the seeder and the pump, are investigated. The results provide useful information for optimization of the design of the system.     

Picosecond optical parametric chirped pulse amplifier as a preamplifier to generate high-energy seed pulses for contrast enhancement

We present the design, implementation, and testing of a novel picosecond optical parametric preamplifier system to generate high-energy seed pulses for the Vulcan laser facility. The preamplifier amplifies 100?fs pulses stretched to 3?ps pulses from 10?pJ to 70 μJ in a single stage of amplification before the pulses are further amplified in the Vulcan high-power Nd:glass laser facility to the petawatt power level. This increased seed energy has led to an improvement of the nanosecond amplified spontaneous emission contrast intensity to 10(-10) of the main pulse, without degrading the output of the laser system.