Abstract

The main benefit of the development of chirped pulse amplification is that very- high peak power lasers have become laboratory tools. The emphasis in this area has continued to be higher peak power in a more compact form. One major improvement has been the use of tunable solid state materials for amplifying shorter pulses which was first demonstrated in flashlamp-pumped alexandrite.¹ Another decrease in size and also improvement in stability has been achieved by going to laser pumping which was first demonstrated in Ti:sapphire pumped by frequency doubled Nd:YAG.² Further dramatic improvement in peak power has recently been accomplished amplifying shorter pulses in this type of system.³

© 1995 IEEE