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Furch FJ, Arisholm G. Toward high-energy few-cycle optical vortices with minimized topological charge dispersion. OPTICS LETTERS 2024; 49:1672-1675. [PMID: 38560833 DOI: 10.1364/ol.509316] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/17/2023] [Accepted: 02/23/2024] [Indexed: 04/04/2024]
Abstract
A simple approach to generate high-energy few-cycle optical vortices with minimized topological charge dispersion is introduced. By means of numerical simulations, it is shown that, by leveraging the intrinsic properties of optical parametric chirped pulse amplification (OPCPA), clean transfer of topological charge from a high-energy narrowband pump pulse to a broadband idler is feasible under certain particular conditions, enabling the generation of high-energy few-cycle vortex pulses with extremely low topological charge dispersion.
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Seeger MF, Kammerer D, Blöchl J, Neuhaus M, Pervak V, Nubbemeyer T, Kling MF. 49 W carrier-envelope-phase-stable few-cycle 2.1 µm OPCPA at 10 kHz. OPTICS EXPRESS 2023; 31:24821-24834. [PMID: 37475300 DOI: 10.1364/oe.493326] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2023] [Accepted: 06/13/2023] [Indexed: 07/22/2023]
Abstract
We demonstrate a mid-infrared optical parametric chirped pulse amplifier (OPCPA), delivering 2.1 µm center wavelength pulses with 20 fs duration and 4.9 mJ energy at 10 kHz repetition rate. This self-seeded system is based on a kW-class Yb:YAG thin-disk amplifier driving a CEP stable short-wavelength-infrared (SWIR) generation and three consecutive OPCPA stages. Our SWIR source achieves an average power of 49 W, while still maintaining excellent phase and average power stability with sub-100 mrad carrier-envelope-phase-noise and 0.8% average power fluctuations. These parameters enable the OPCPA setup to drive attosecond pump probe spectroscopy experiments with photon energies in the water window.
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De Andres A, Jolly SW, Fischer P, Muschet AA, Schnur F, Veisz L. Spatio-spectral couplings in optical parametric amplifiers. OPTICS EXPRESS 2023; 31:12036-12048. [PMID: 37157371 DOI: 10.1364/oe.483534] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/10/2023]
Abstract
Optical parametric amplification (OPA) is a powerful tool for the generation of ultrashort light pulses. However, under certain circumstances, it develops spatio-spectral couplings, color dependent aberrations that degrade the pulse properties. In this work, we present a spatio-spectral coupling generated by a non-collimated pump beam and resulting in the change of direction of the amplified signal with respect to the input seed. We experimentally characterize the effect, introduce a theoretical model to explain it as well as reproduce it through numerical simulations. It affects high-gain non-collinear OPA configurations and becomes especially relevant in sequential optical parametric synthesizers. In collinear configuration, however, beyond the direction change, also angular and spatial chirp is produced. We obtain with a synthesizer about 40% decrease in peak intensity in the experiments and local elongation of the pulse duration by more than 25% within the spatial full width at half maximum at the focus. Finally, we present strategies to correct or mitigate the coupling and demonstrate them in two different systems. Our work is important for the development of OPA-based systems as well as few-cycle sequential synthesizers.
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Valiulis G, Varanavičius A. Numerical study of absorption-enhanced parametric amplification. OPTICS EXPRESS 2022; 30:15073-15084. [PMID: 35473238 DOI: 10.1364/oe.456019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/10/2022] [Accepted: 03/30/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Usually the absorption of interacting waves is detrimental to the parametric amplification process. We show that even in the case of large idler wave absorption it is possible to get highly efficient signal amplification as well as amplifier bandwidth enhancement due to back-conversion suppression. We numerically investigated the influence of the idler wave linear losses arising in the case of parametric amplification in 515 nm pumped BBO crystal tuned to signal amplification at 610 nm. The possibility to achieve ∼75% pump-to-signal energy conversion and amplification bandwidth of ∼900 cm-1 using collinear amplification scheme is demonstrated.
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Eichner T, Hülsenbusch T, Dirkwinkel J, Lang T, Winkelmann L, Palmer G, Maier AR. Spatio-spectral couplings in saturated collinear OPCPA. OPTICS EXPRESS 2022; 30:3404-3415. [PMID: 35209599 DOI: 10.1364/oe.448551] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/15/2021] [Accepted: 01/11/2022] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Ultrafast laser pulses featuring both high spatio-temporal beam quality and excellent energy stability are crucial for many applications. Here, we present a seed laser with high beam quality and energy stability, based on a collinear optical parametric chirped pulse amplification (OPCPA) stage, delivering 46 µJ pulses with a 25 fs Fourier limit at 1 kHz repetition rate. While saturation of the OPCPA stage is necessary for achieving the highest possible energy stability, it also leads to a degradation of the beam quality. Using simulations, we show that spectrally dependent, rotationally symmetric aberrations dominate the collinear OPCPA in saturation. We experimentally characterize these aberrations and then remove distinct spatial frequencies to greatly improve the spectral homogeneity of the beam quality, while keeping an excellent energy stability of 0.2 % rms measured over 70 hours.
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Wang Y, Wang J, Zhou B, Ma J, Yuan P, Qian L. Spatiotemporal couplings through a nonlinear phase in broadband optical parametric amplification. OPTICS LETTERS 2021; 46:5743-5746. [PMID: 34780451 DOI: 10.1364/ol.440145] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2021] [Accepted: 10/20/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification (OPCPA) is prone to undesired spatiotemporal couplings. This Letter studies a family of OPCPA couplings resulting from the nonlinear phase shift induced by frequency-dependent phase mismatch. These OPCPA couplings manifest as pulse-front deformation, transversely varying pulse duration, and spectrally varying wavefront curvature, which are directly linked with the phase-mismatch dispersion terms. The numerical study in this Letter also reveals that the focused signal intensity severely degrades with increasing signal bandwidth and pump depletion.
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Rueda P, Videla F, Witting T, Torchia GA, Furch FJ. 8 fs laser pulses from a compact gas-filled multi-pass cell. OPTICS EXPRESS 2021; 29:27004-27013. [PMID: 34615123 DOI: 10.1364/oe.435086] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2021] [Accepted: 07/28/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Compression of 42 fs, 0.29 mJ pulses from a Ti:Sapphire amplifier down to 8 fs (approximately 3 optical cycles) is demonstrated by means of spectral broadening in a compact multi-pass cell filled with argon. The efficiency of the nonlinear pulse compression is limited to 45 % mostly by losses in the mirrors of the cell. The experimental results are supported by 3-dimensional numerical simulations of the nonlinear pulse propagation in the cell that allow us to study spatio-spectral properties of the pulses after spectral broadening.
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Grace E, Ma T, Guang Z, Alessi D, Herriot S, Rhodes M, Park J, Trebino R. Simulations of wavelength-multiplexed holography for single-shot spatiotemporal characterization of NIF's advanced radiographic capability (ARC) laser. THE REVIEW OF SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTS 2021; 92:053003. [PMID: 34243266 DOI: 10.1063/5.0043659] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/10/2021] [Accepted: 04/17/2021] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
We simulate the use of a newly developed single-shot wavelength-multiplexed holography-based diagnostic, STRIPED FISH, to fully characterize the as-delivered laser pulses of the National Ignition Facility's Advanced Radiographic Capability (NIF-ARC) laser. To that end, we have performed simulations of the NIF-ARC pulse incorporating (a) a time-integrated spatial-profile measurement and a complete temporal-intensity-and-phase measurement using a frequency resolved optical gating, but without any spatiotemporal pulse characterizations, and (b) simulated first-order spatiotemporal distortions, which could be measured on a single shot if a STRIPED FISH device were deployed.
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Affiliation(s)
- E Grace
- School of Physics, Georgia Institute of Technology, 837 State St. NW, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, USA
| | - T Ma
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, 7000 East Ave., Livermore, California 94550, USA
| | - Z Guang
- School of Physics, Georgia Institute of Technology, 837 State St. NW, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, USA
| | - D Alessi
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, 7000 East Ave., Livermore, California 94550, USA
| | - S Herriot
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, 7000 East Ave., Livermore, California 94550, USA
| | - M Rhodes
- Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, 7000 East Ave., Livermore, California 94550, USA
| | - J Park
- Electrical and Computer Engineering, Colorado State University, 400 Isotope Dr., Fort Collins, Colorado 80523, USA
| | - R Trebino
- School of Physics, Georgia Institute of Technology, 837 State St. NW, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, USA
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Kim YG, Lee HW, Im HB, Kim JI, Sung JH, Yoon JW, Lee SK, Nam CH. Analysis of angular dispersion induced by wavefront rotation in nanosecond optical parametric chirped pulse amplification. OPTICS EXPRESS 2020; 28:38842-38856. [PMID: 33379444 DOI: 10.1364/oe.411059] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/25/2020] [Accepted: 11/30/2020] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Angular dispersion observed in a nanosecond optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification (ns-OPCPA) amplifier adopted in the frontend of a multi-PW laser was analyzed. The theory on the angular dispersion, extended by including the wavefront rotation and the pulse front tilt of a strongly chirped laser pulse, revealed that the wavefront rotation is a major contributor to the angular dispersion, as compared to the pulse front tilt, in a ns-OPCPA amplifier. It was also shown that the wavefront rotation could be introduced by the phase mismatch and the noncollinear propagation angle in the noncollinear ns-OPCPA amplifier. The theoretical prediction was experimentally verified by measuring the angular dispersion of the ns-OPCPA frontend installed in the 20-fs, 4-PW Ti:Sapphire laser. We emphasize the importance of the proper characterization and control of the angular dispersion in the ns-OPCPA amplifier since the focus intensity of an ultrahigh power laser could be significantly reduced due to the spatiotemporal effect even for small induced angular dispersion.
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Tamer I, Hellwing M, Azamoum Y, Hornung M, Keppler S, Schorcht F, Hein J, Kaluza MC. Few-cycle fs-pumped NOPA with passive ultrabroadband spectral shaping. OPTICS EXPRESS 2020; 28:19034-19043. [PMID: 32672189 DOI: 10.1364/oe.388344] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/22/2020] [Accepted: 03/23/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
A compact, femtosecond-pumped noncollinear optical parametric amplifier (NOPA) is presented with a passive spectral shaping technique, employed to produce a flat-top-like ultrabroadband output spectrum. The NOPA is pumped by a dedicated 2 mJ, 120 fs Yb3+-based CPA system, which generates both the second harmonic pump pulse and white light supercontinuum as the signal pulse. A chirped mirror pair pre-compensates the material GVD within the optical path of the signal pulse to produce a near-FTL pulse duration at the OPA crystal output. By optimizing both the pump/signal cross angle and the pump/signal delay, the 40 cm × 40 cm footprint, single-pass, fs-pumped, direct NOPA (non-NOPCPA) system generates a record 20 µJ, 11 fs pulses at 820 nm central wavelength with a bandwidth of 230 nm FWHM, to be used as an ultrashort optical probe pulse for relativistic laser-plasma interactions at the petawatt-class POLARIS laser system.
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Ermolov A, Heide C, Dienstbier P, Köttig F, Tani F, Hommelhoff P, Russell PSJ. Carrier-envelope-phase-stable soliton-based pulse compression to 4.4 fs and ultraviolet generation at the 800 kHz repetition rate. OPTICS LETTERS 2019; 44:5005-5008. [PMID: 31613249 DOI: 10.1364/ol.44.005005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2019] [Accepted: 09/09/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
In this Letter, we report the generation of a femtosecond supercontinuum extending from the ultraviolet to the near-infrared spectrum and detection of its carrier-envelope-phase (CEP) variation by f-to-2f interferometry. The spectrum is generated in a gas-filled hollow-core photonic crystal fiber, where soliton dynamics allows the CEP-stable self-compression of the optical parametric chirped-pulse amplifier pump pulses at 800 nm to a duration of 1.7 optical cycles, followed by dispersive wave emission. The source provides up to 1 μJ of pulse energy at the 800 kHz repetition rate, resulting in 0.8 W of average power, and it can be extremely useful, for example in strong-field physics, pump-probe measurements, and ultraviolet frequency comb metrology.
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Prinz S, Schnitzenbaumer M, Potamianos D, Schultze M, Stark S, Häfner M, Teisset CY, Wandt C, Michel K, Kienberger R, Bernhardt B, Metzger T. Thin-disk pumped optical parametric chirped pulse amplifier delivering CEP-stable multi-mJ few-cycle pulses at 6 kHz. OPTICS EXPRESS 2018; 26:1108-1124. [PMID: 29401989 DOI: 10.1364/oe.26.001108] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2017] [Accepted: 12/22/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
We present an optical parametric chirped pulse amplifier (OPCPA) delivering CEP-stable ultrashort pulses with 7 fs, high energies of more than 1.8 mJ and high average output power exceeding 10 W at a repetition rate of 6 kHz. The system is pumped by a picosecond regenerative thin-disk amplifier and exhibits an excellent long-term stability. In a proof-of-principle experiment, high harmonic generation is demonstrated in neon up to the 61st order.
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von Grafenstein L, Bock M, Ueberschaer D, Zawilski K, Schunemann P, Griebner U, Elsaesser T. 5 μm few-cycle pulses with multi-gigawatt peak power at a 1 kHz repetition rate. OPTICS LETTERS 2017; 42:3796-3799. [PMID: 28957130 DOI: 10.1364/ol.42.003796] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2017] [Accepted: 08/23/2017] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
A mid-infrared (mid-IR) optical parametric chirped pulse amplification (OPCPA) system generating few-cycle pulses with multi-gigawatt peak power at a 1 kHz repetition rate is reported. The system is pumped by a highly stable 2 μm picosecond chirped pulse amplifier based on Ho:YLF gain media to exploit the high nonlinearity of ZnGeP2 (ZGP) crystals for parametric amplification. The ZGP optical parametric amplification (OPA) is characterized by a high conversion efficiency of >10 %, resulting in 1.3 mJ idler pulses at a center wavelength of 5.1 μm. Employing a dispersion management scheme based only on bulk materials, pulses as short as 160 fs are obtained. By adding a spatial light modulator in the OPCPA setup, the pulses are further recompressed to 75 fs duration which corresponds to less than five optical cycles. Taking into account the pulse energy of 0.65 mJ in this configuration, it translates into a peak power of 7.7 GW. The achieved pulse durations and peak powers, to the best of our knowledge, represent record values for high-energy mid-IR OPCPAs beyond 4 μm.
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Furch FJ, Witting T, Giree A, Luan C, Schell F, Arisholm G, Schulz CP, Vrakking MJJ. CEP-stable few-cycle pulses with more than 190 μJ of energy at 100 kHz from a noncollinear optical parametric amplifier. OPTICS LETTERS 2017; 42:2495-2498. [PMID: 28957267 DOI: 10.1364/ol.42.002495] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/05/2017] [Accepted: 05/29/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Noncollinear optical parametric amplifiers (NOPAs) have become the leading technique for the amplification of carrier-envelope phase (CEP)-stable, few-cycle pulses at high repetition rate and high average power. In this Letter, a NOPA operating at a repetition rate of 100 kHz delivering more than 24 W of average power before compression is reported. The amplified bandwidth supports sub-7 fs pulse durations and pulse compression close to the transform limit is realized. CEP stability after amplification is demonstrated. The system paves the way to attosecond pump-probe spectroscopy with electron-ion coincidence detection.
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