Coherent pulse stacking amplification using low-finesse Gires-Tournois interferometers

Area of Science:

• Optics and Photonics
• Laser Physics
• High-Energy Lasers

Background:

• Optical amplifiers face limitations in achievable pulse energies.
• Existing techniques may require complex components like active cavity-dumpers.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce and validate a novel technique for enhancing pulse energies from optical amplifiers.
• To overcome the energy limitations of current optical amplification systems.

Main Methods:

• Demonstration of coherent pulse stacking (CPS) amplification using reflecting resonators.
• Experimental validation with a single reflecting resonator for nanosecond and femtosecond pulses.
• Theoretical analysis of stacking multiple equal-amplitude pulses using sequences of resonators.

Main Results:

• Achieved a near-theoretical stacked peak-power enhancement factor of approximately 2.5.
• Demonstrated high efficiencies of 92% for nanosecond pulses and 97.4% for femtosecond pulses.
• Theoretically showed potential for stacking large numbers of pulses with multiple resonators.

Conclusions:

• Coherent pulse stacking (CPS) offers a new pathway for generating very high-energy pulses.
• The technique effectively overcomes energy limitations in ultrashort pulse fiber amplifier systems.
• CPS provides a simpler alternative to active cavity-dumping methods for pulse energy enhancement.