Investigation of optical parametric fluorescence suppression with a quencher pulse in an optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification laser

Abstract

The mechanism of suppressing optical parametric fluorescence (OPF) with a quencher pulse in an optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification (OPCPA) laser is investigated. A simplified theoretical model of this phenomenon is presented, and numerical simulations and experimental demonstrations are performed for explanation and verification. The results show that, although the improvement of the temporal contrast usually is limited, the generation and amplification of the OPF in an OPCPA process does be suppressed by the injection of a quencher pulse, and the suppression capability can be slightly enhanced by increasing the quencher-pulse energy. We believe that this work will be helpful in designing high-peak-power lasers with high temporal contrast.

Further Development of the Short‐Pulse Petawatt Laser: Trends, Technologies, and Bottlenecks

“…[250] Here, AOPDF can also be used to precompensate both spectral phase and amplitude modulations. [223] In the amplifier, for a Ti:sapphire laser, ASE can be suppressed by optimizing the laser crystal, [251] the pump geometry, [252] the synchronization control, [253] the clean and strong injection, [254] the saturation absorption, [255] etc., and for an OPCPA laser, OPF can be suppressed by using a lowgain amplifier, [256] an extra quencher pulse, [257,258] a short-pulse (picosecond/femtosecond) pump, [26,259] a spatially chirped signal beam, [260,261] etc.…”