New Front End Technology

The next generation of Petawatt class lasers will require the development of new laser technology. Optical parametric chirped pulse amplification (OPCPA) holds a potential to increase the peak power level to >10 PW with existing grating technology through ultrashort pulses. Furthermore, by utilizing a new type of front-end system based on optical parametric amplification, pulses can be produced with substantially higher contrast than with Ti:sapphire regenerative amplifier technology. We performed extensive study of OPCPA using a single crystal-based OPA. We developed a replacement for Ti:sapphire regenerative amplifier for high peak power lasers based on OPCPA, with an output of 30 mJ, at 10 Hz repetition rate and 16.5 nm spectral bandwidth. We developed a 3D numerical model for OPCPA and we performed a theoretical study of influences of pump laser beam quality on optical parametric amplification. Our results indicate that OPCPA represents a valid replacement for Ti:sapphire in the front end of high energy short pulse lasers.