Pulse contrast enhancement via non-collinear sum-frequency generation with the signal and idler of an optical parametric amplifier

Journal Article · 07 June 2019 · Applied Physics Letters

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5108911 · OSTI ID:1515838

Cunningham, Eric  ^[1]; Galtier, Eric ^[1]; Dyer, Gilliss ^[1]; Robinson, Joseph ^[1]; Fry, Alan ^[1]

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1. SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States). Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS)

We outline an approach for improving the temporal contrast of a high-intensity laser system by >8 orders of magnitude using non-collinear sum-frequency generation with the signal and idler of an optical parametric amplifier. We demonstrate the effectiveness of this technique by cleaning pulses from a millijoule-level chirped-pulse amplification system to provide >10¹² intensity contrast relative to all pre-pulses and amplified spontaneous emission >5 ps prior to the main pulse. The output maintains percent-level energy stability on the time scales of a typical user experiment at our facility, highlighting the method's reliability and operational efficiency. After temporal cleansing, the pulses are stretched in time before seeding two multi-pass, Ti:sapphire-based amplifiers. After re-compression, the 1 J, 40 fs (25 TW) laser pulses maintain a >10^10 intensity contrast >30 ps prior to the main pulse. This technique is both energy-scalable and appropriate for preparing seed pulses for a TW- or PW-level chirped-pulse amplification laser system.

• Research Organization: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory (SLAC), Menlo Park, CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Fusion Energy Sciences (FES)
• Grant/Contract Number: AC02-76SF00515; SF00515
• OSTI ID: 1515838
• Alternate ID(s): OSTI ID: 1525336
• Journal Information: Applied Physics Letters, Vol. 114, Issue 22; ISSN 0003-6951
• Publisher: American Institute of Physics (AIP)Copyright Statement
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English