100-TW sub-20-fs Ti:sapphire laser system operating at a 10-Hz repetition rate

Abstract

We developed a compact three-stage Ti:sapphire amplifier laser system that produced peak power in excess of 100 TW for a pulse duration of less than 19 fs and an average power of 19 W at a 10-Hz repetition rate. A final 40-mm-diameter Ti:sapphire amplifier is pumped by a Nd:YAG master-oscillator-power-amplifier system that produces ~7-J output of 532-nm radiation. The spatial beam quality is approximately 2 times diffraction limited for the full amplified compressed output pulse. With f/3 optics, this system should therefore be capable of producing a focused intensity of ~3x10(20) W/cm(2) .

Ti:sapphire crystal used in ultrafast lasers and amplifiers

“…K. Yamakawa et al [3] described a Ti:sapphire amplifier system that has produced 100 TW laser of less than 19 fs pulse duration at a 10 Hz repetition rate with an average power of 19 W and a final amplifier efficiency reaching the theoretical quantum limit. The amplifier used a water cooled, 40 mm diameter, 25 mm length Ti:sapphire crystal with antireflection coating on both faces and is pumped with a custom-built Nd:YAG laser that is capable of producing B7 J of 532 nm radiation at a 10 Hz repetition rate.…”

A 110-TW multiple-beam laser system with a 5-TW wavelength-tunable auxiliary beam for versatile control of laser-plasma interaction

“…Based on the technique of chirp-pulse amplification (CPA) [22], the technology of table-top 100-TW-class laser is being developed continuously [23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34], and lasers with petawatt peak power are built at large research centers [35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44]. In the meantime, as the complexity of experiments increases, there is a growing need for precision control of laser-plasma interaction in the application of high-intensity lasers.…”

Numerical simulation of gain narrowing control by hybrid amplifiers chain based on Ti:sapphire and Ti:chrysoberyl

“…To date, although sub-10 fs Ti:sapphire oscillators already exist, obstacles such as gain narrowing effect [6,7] have been encountered to achieve 10 fs class compressed laser pulse. Techniques such as Acousto-optic programmable dispersive filter(AOPDF), regenerative pulse shaping and Optical Parametric Chirped Pulse Amplification [8][9][10] have already been employed in femtosecond petawatt lasers to overcome gain narrowing, and petawatt pulses with duration around 30 fs could be obtained [11,12]. Meanwhile, in some Nd:glass systems, beamlines which composed of Nd:phosphate glass and Nd:silicate glass are utilized to provide broader gain spectra to support shorter compressed pulses [13][14][15], nevertheless, mixed crystal beamline has not been reported yet.…”