Abstract

We have investigated two novel laser glasses in an effort to generate high-energy, broad-spectrum pulses from a chirped-pulse amplification Nd:glass laser. Both glasses have significantly broader spectra ($>38\text{\hspace{0.17em} nm}$ FWHM) than currently available Nd:phosphate and Nd:silicate glasses. We present calculations for small signal pulse amplification to simulate spectral gain narrowing. The technique of spectral shaping using mixed-glass architecture with an optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification front end is evaluated. Our modeling shows that amplified pulses with energies exceeding $\text{10 kJ}$ with sufficient bandwidth to achieve $\text{120 fs}$ pulsewidths are achievable with the use of the new laser glasses. With further development of current technologies, a laser system could be scaled to generate one exawatt in peak power.

© 2007 Optical Society of America

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