Compact 10-TW, 800-fs Nd:glass laser

A tabletop Nd:phosphate glass laser system capable of producing a focused intensity in excess of 10(18) W/cm(2) is described. Optimization of chirped-pulse amplification, including spectral shaping and careful attention to beam quality, produces a transform-limited, 800-fs compressed pulse with a peak power of >10 TW in a near diffraction-limited spatially uniform beam.