Authors: C Erny L Gallmann U Keller
Publish Date: 2009/03/03
Volume: 96, Issue: 2-3, Pages: 257-269
Abstract
We discuss a dualstage optical parametric chirpedpulse amplifier generating sub100fs pulses in the midinfrared at a repetition rate of 100 kHz The system is based on a 1064 nm pump laser and a 3–4 μm difference frequency generation seed source derived from the output of a femtosecond fiber laser amplifier Both lasers are commercially available are diodepumped compact and allow for turnkey operation Here we focus our discussion on the design and dimensioning of the optical parametric chirpedpulse amplifier In particular we review the available gain materials for midinfrared generation and analyze the impact of different stretching scenarios Timing jitter plays an important role in shortpulse parametric amplifier systems and is therefore studied in detail The geometry of the amplifier stages is optimized through a full 3dimensional simulation with the aim of maximizing gain bandwidth and output power The optimized system yields output pulse energies exceeding 1 μJ and an overall gain larger than 50 dB The high repetition rate of the pump laser results in an unprecedented average power from a femtosecond parametric system at midinfrared wavelengths First experimental results confirm the design and the predictions of our theoretical modelThis article is published under an open access license Please check the Copyright Information section for details of this license and what reuse is permitted If your intended use exceeds what is permitted by the license or if you are unable to locate the licence and reuse information please contact the Rights and Permissions team
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