Abstract

High-energy femtosecond pulses from diode-pumped Yb amplifiers can be used for driving a variety of strong-field processes directly or, alternatively, as both the pump and front end for frequency conversion into energetic femtosecond UV and mid-IR pulses. Yb:CaF₂ is excellently suited for high-energy amplification and supports one of the widest gain bandwidths among Yb-doped crystalline hosts. In the repetition frequency range of ≤1 Hz, multi-TW-peak-power pulses [1] and nanosecond pulses with energies >16 J [2] have been demonstrated. In the repetition-frequency range of 20–100 Hz relevant to our system, nanosecond pulses with energies of up to 160-mJ and average powers <3 W were achieved [3]. In this work we demonstrate an attractive scalable booster design targeting the 50–100 Hz repetition frequency range and configured for ultrashort pulse generation.

© 2015 IEEE