Optics Continuum Best Paper Prize
Optics Continuum contributes to the vibrant optics and photonics community with high quality, Open Access content that is technically valid, without judgment of impact or significance. To further these efforts, Optics Continuum is launching a Best Paper Prize.
This Prize recognizes one outstanding paper published in the Journal each year. The recipient is selected by a committee of Optics Continuum Editors representing a range of topics across the scope of the Journal. The Prize criteria include technical accuracy, scientific rigor, and presentation quality. The recipient is presented with a certificate of recognition and waiver of a future publication fee in Optics Continuum.
Nominations are open in the Spring each year.
2022 Best Paper Prize Winner
André Loescher
Institut für Strahlwerkzeuge (IFSW), University of Stuttgart, Germany
André Loescher, Florian Bienert, Christoph Röcker, Thomas Graf, Martin Gorjan, Jürg Aus der Au, and Marwan Abdou Ahmed
The paper reports on an improved multipass amplifier design, enabling the amplification of ultrashort pulses with excellent beam quality (M2<1.2) and average output power of more than 1 kW, corresponding to a peak power of 2.5 GW. Their amplifier system shows an excellent power stability of 0.16% RMS over a duration of more than two hours. The authors demonstrate the excellent performance of the laser technology by employing a simple multipass geometry with a strict attitude. The committee members unanimously selected this paper due to the exceptional thoroughness of the study, accuracy of the work, and clarity of the presentation. Read more.