The potential of borate crystals, BBO, LBO and BiBO, for high average power scaling of optical parametric chirped-pulse amplifiers is investigated. Up-to-date measurements of the absorption coefficients at 515 nm and the thermal conductivities are presented. The measured absorption coefficients are a factor of 10-100 lower than reported by the literature for BBO and LBO. For BBO, a large variation of the absorption coefficients was found between crystals from different manufacturers. The linear and nonlinear absorption coefficients at 515 nm as well as thermal conductivities were determined for the first time for BiBO. Further, different crystal cooling methods are presented. In addition, the limits to power scaling of OPCPAs are discussed.

Optical parametric chirped-pulse amplifiers with high average power are possible with novel high-power Yb:YAG amplifiers with kW-level output powers. We demonstrate a compact wavelength-tunable sub-30-fs amplifier with 11.4 W average power with 20.7% pump-to-signal conversion efficiency. For parametric amplification, a beta-barium borate crystal is pumped by a 140 W, 1 ps Yb:YAG InnoSlab amplifier at 3.25 MHz repetition rate. The broadband seed is generated via supercontinuum generation in a YAG crystal.

We present the world's first laser at 515 nm with sub-picosecond pulses and an average power of 445 W. To realize this beam source we utilize an Yb:YAG-based infrared laser consisting of a fiber MOPA system as a seed source, a rod-type pre-amplifier and two Innoslab power amplifier stages. The infrared system delivers up to 930 W of average power at repetition rates between 10 and 50 MHz and with pulse durations around 800 fs. The beam quality in the infrared is M-2 = 1.1 and 1.5 in fast and slow axis. As a frequency doubler we chose a Type-I critically phase-matched Lithium Triborate (LBO) crystal in a single-pass configuration. To preserve the infrared beam quality and pulse duration, the conversion was carefully modeled using numerical calculations. These take dispersion-related and thermal effects into account, thus enabling us to provide precise predictions of the properties of the frequency-doubled beam. To be able to model the influence of thermal dephasing correctly and to choose appropriate crystals accordingly, we performed extensive absorption measurements of all crystals used for conversion experiments. These measurements provide the input data for the thermal FEM analysis and calculation. We used a Photothermal Commonpath Interferometer (PCI) to obtain space-resolved absorption data in the bulk and at the surfaces of the LBO crystals. The absorption was measured at 1030 nm as well as at 515 nm in order to take into account the different absorption behavior at both occurring wavelengths

For the satellite-based methane lidar instrument MERLIN a reliable laser source is needed that emits laser pulses at two wavelengths of around 1645 nm to measure the methane concentration of earth's atmosphere with an Integrated Path Differential Absorption LIDAR (IPDA). To generate those pulses, the laser (LASO) consists of a seeded, actively qswitched, diode pumped Nd:YAG master oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) and a subsequent seeded and frequencycontrolled optical parametric oscillator (OPO).Due to the passive thermal control of the instrument the laser has to withstand a large non-operational and operational temperature range and also high mechanical loads while at the same time a compact envelope is required. Together with the demanding requirements on the laser performance a very robust optical design is needed.To meet those requirements, Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology (ILT) uses optomechanical mounts that were developed in a previous project and show very low tilting over a large operational temperature range, even after nonoperational temperature cycling and applying mechanical loads. The mounts are soldered and free of organic substances as the LASO is enclosed in a pressurized housing (LASH). Any outgassing could lead to a decay or damage of the optics and thus a failure of the laser.During the development of the optomechanical mounts many tests were performed to quantify the statistical behavior under mechanical and thermal loads. Based on those results and additional mechanical simulations, Monte-Carlo-Analyses have been performed to analyze the performance of the laser and to verify the fulfilment of the requirements.

We present a continuous-wave (CW) intracavity frequency-doubled Yb:YAG laser providing 1030 and 515 nm output simultaneously. This laser system was designed for photothermal common-path interferometry to measure spatially resolved profiles of the linear absorption in dielectric media and coatings for visible or infrared light as well as of the nonlinear absorption for the combination of both. A Z-shape laser cavity was designed, providing a beam waist in which an LBO crystal was located for effective second-harmonic generation (SHG). Suitable frequency conversion parameters and cavity configurations were discussed to achieve the optimal performance of a diode-pumped CW SHG laser. A 12.4 W 1030 nm laser and 5.4 W 515 nm laser were developed simultaneously in our experiment.