75 MW few-cycle mid-infrared pulses from a collinear apodized APPLN-based OPCPA

Opt Express. 2012 Nov 19;20(24):26888-94. doi: 10.1364/OE.20.026888.

Abstract

We present an ultra-broadband optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification (OPCPA) system operating at 3.4 µm center wavelength with a peak power of 75 MW. The OPCPA system is split into a pre- and a power-amplifier stage. Both stages are based on apodized aperiodically poled MgO:LiNbO3 (APPLN). The collinear mixing configuration allows us to manipulate the spectral phase of the output mid-infrared pulses by sending the near-infrared seed pulses through a pulse shaper. The system delivers clean 75-fs pulses with record-high 700 mW average power, corresponding to 7 µJ of pulse energy at a repetition rate of 100 kHz.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Amplifiers, Electronic*
  • Computer Simulation
  • Energy Transfer
  • Equipment Design
  • Humans
  • Light*
  • Models, Theoretical*
  • Optical Devices*
  • Oscillometry / instrumentation*
  • Scattering, Radiation*
  • Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted / instrumentation*