Abstract
A new high-contrast, high-gain optical parametric chirped-pulse amplifier (OPCPA) architecture is demonstrated in periodically poled (PPKTP). This architecture overcomes parametric fluorescence contrast limitations of the OPCPA in periodically poled materials. The scheme is based on two passes of a single relay-imaged pump pulse and a free-propagating signal pulse through a PPKTP crystal. The output energy of is generated at a center wavelength of by of pump energy. A prepulse contrast level of was measured with saturated gain in the amplifier. Amplified pulses were compressed to . This simple and versatile concept requires only a modest pump energy from a commercial pump laser and represents a possible high-contrast front end for high-energy Nd:glass-based petawatt-class lasers.
© 2005 Optical Society of America
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