Adaptive pulse compression for transform-limited 15-fs high-energy pulse generation

Journal Article · Sat Apr 15 00:00:00 EDT 2000 · Optics Letters

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1364/OL.25.000587· OSTI ID:20216024

Zeek, E; Bartels, R; Murnane, M M; Kapteyn, H C; Backus, S; Vdovin, G

We demonstrate the use of a deformable-mirror pulse shaper, combined with an evolutionary optimization algorithm, to correct high-order residual phase aberrations in a 1-mJ, 1-kHz, 15-fs laser amplifier. Frequency-resolved optical gating measurements reveal that the output pulse duration of 15.2 fs is within our measurement error of the theoretical transform limit. This technique significantly reduces the pulse duration and the temporal prepulse energy of the pulse while increasing the peak intensity by 26%. It is demonstrated, for what is believed to be the first time, that the problem of pedestals in laser amplifiers can be addressed by spectral-domain correction. (c) 2000 Optical Society of America.

• OSTI ID: 20216024
• Journal Information: Optics Letters, Vol. 25, Issue 8; Other Information: PBD: 15 Apr 2000; ISSN 0146-9592
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
LASER RADIATION
PULSE SHAPERS
MIRRORS
DEFORMATION
FEEDBACK
HARMONIC GENERATION
EXPERIMENTAL DATA