Ultrahigh laser pulse energy and power generation at 10 kHz

This Letter presents results from a new master-oscillator, power-amplifier pulse-burst laser system demonstrating ultrahigh pulse energies greater than 2.0 J/pulse at 1064 nm with interpulse separations of 100 μs (10 kHz) for burst durations of 100 pulses. Each pulse generates peak powers exceeding 130 MW and an average power of approximately 20 kW is generated over a 100-pulse-burst. Pulse energies decrease by less than 10% over a 100 sequential pulses, demonstrating negligible "droop" over long-duration pulse trains. Second-harmonic generation of 532 nm with conversion efficiency greater than 50% is demonstrated for 100-pulse-burst durations.