200 TW 45 fs laser based on optical parametric chirped pulse amplification

Area of Science:

• High-power laser systems
• Nonlinear optics
• Ultrafast science

Background:

• Master oscillator power amplification (MOPA) architectures are crucial for generating high-peak-power laser pulses.
• Optical parametric amplifiers (OPAs) offer advantages in wavelength flexibility and energy scaling for ultrafast lasers.

Purpose of the Study:

• To experimentally demonstrate 200 TW peak power using a novel laser architecture.
• To detail the design and performance of the final OPA stage and vacuum compressor.
• To discuss the scalability of the demonstrated architecture towards multipetawatt peak powers.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a Cr:forsterite master oscillator and a stretcher to generate a chirped seed pulse.
• Employed three optical parametric amplifiers based on KD*P (DKDP) crystals for pulse amplification.
• Implemented a vacuum compressor to achieve the final high peak power.

Main Results:

• Achieved a peak power of 200 TW at 1250 nm from the master oscillator.
• Delivered 14.5 J of energy in the chirped pulse at a 910 nm central wavelength after amplification.
• Successfully compressed the amplified pulse to achieve the target peak power.

Conclusions:

• The demonstrated laser system successfully achieved 200 TW peak power.
• The final OPA and vacuum compressor designs are critical for system performance.
• The architecture shows promising scalability for future multipetawatt laser systems.