High contrast, 86 fs, 35 mJ pulses from a diode-pumped, Yb:glass, double-chirped-pulse amplification laser system

Opt Lett. 2016 Jul 1;41(13):3006-9. doi: 10.1364/OL.41.003006.

Abstract

We demonstrate the generation of 86 fs, 35 mJ, high-contrast laser pulses at 1030 nm with a repetition rate of 1 Hz from a diode-pumped double chirped-pulse amplification setup. The pulses exhibit a spectral bandwidth exceeding 27 nm full width at half-maximum. This could be achieved by using a laser architecture comprising two stages of chirped pulse amplification with a cross-polarized wave generation filter in between, by applying spectral shaping and by increasing the spectral hard-clip of the second stretcher. These are, to the best of our knowledge, the shortest pulses at the mJ level with ultra-high contrast generated with a diode-pumped front end at 1030 nm.