Abstract

We have utilized chirped-pulse amplification¹ to construct a compact, Nd:Phosphate glass based system capable of producing 10 Joules in a 700 fsec transform-limited pulse at 1053 nm. The system employs a novel regenerative amplifier² to produce a net gain of 10⁸ (to 15 mJ) followed by single-pass power amplifiers to boost the energy to 15 J. These pulses are then compressed using a conventional diffraction grating pulse compressor. The extremely low loss of the regenerative amplifier results in minimum gain narrowing. Use of spectral shaping3 before compression yields a subpicosecond compressed pulse having a contrast ratio of better than 10⁵:1 (Figure 1). In the absence of shaping, the compressed pulses are typically 1.5 psec and exhibit a contrast of only 10:1 (Figure 2).

© 1990 Optical Society of America