A 50 W sub-picosecond fiber chirped pulse amplification system generating 50 µJ pulses at a repetition rate of 1 MHz is demonstrated. As required for precision high speed micro-machining, this system has a practical system configuration enabled by the fiber stretcher and 1780 l/mm dielectric diffraction grating compressor and is capable of ablation rates >0.17 mm³/s metal, ceramic, and glass.

© 2006 Optical Society of America

1. M. E. Fermann, M. Hofer, F. Haberl, and S. P. Craig-Ryan, "Femtosecond fiber laser," Electron. Lett. 26, 1737-1738 (1990). [CrossRef]
2. F. Roser, J. Rothhard, B. Ortac, A. Liem, O. Schmidt, T. Schreiber, J. Limpert, and A. Tunnermann, "131 W 220 fs fiber laser system," Opt. Lett. 30, 2754 (2005). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
3. J. Limpert, T. Schreiber, A. Liem, S. Nolte, H. Zellmer, T. Peschel, V. Guyneot, and A. Tünnermann, "Thermo-optical properties of air-clad photonic crystal fiber lasers in high power operation," Opt. Express 11, 2982-2990 (2003). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
4. http://www.imra.com
5. A. Galvanauskas, G. C. Cho, A. Hariharan, M. E. Fermann, and D. Harter, "Generation of high-energy femtosecond pulses in multimode-core Yb-fiber chirped-pulse amplification systems," Opt. Lett. 26, 935-937 (2001). [CrossRef]
6. L. Shah, Z. Liu, I. Hartl, G. Imeshev, G. C. Cho, and M. E. Fermann, "High energy femtosecond Yb cubicon fiber amplifier," Opt. Express. 13, 4717-4722 (2005). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
7. L. Shah, Z. Liu, I. Hartl, G. Imeshev, G. C. Cho, and M. E. Fermann, "Ultrafast high energy amplifiers beyond the B-integral limit," Proc. SPIE 6102,61020Z (2006). [CrossRef]
8. W. Molander, A. Komashko, J. Britten, L. Jones, C. Brown, J. Caird, I. Jovanovic, B. Wattellier, N. Nielson, D. Pennington and C. P. J. Barty, "Design and test of advanced multi-layer dielectric gratings for high energy petawatt" Inertial Fusion Sciences and Applications, 634-637 (2003).
9. D. Nickel, C. Stolzenburg, A. Beyertt, A. Giesen, and F. Butze, "Design principles for ultrafast thin-disk regenerative amplifiers without conventional stretching," Conference on Lasers and Electro Optics 2005, CMA5.
10. A. Killi, A. Steinmann, J. Dorring, U. Morgner, M. J. Lederer, and D. Kopf, "Microjoule femtosecond laser pulses from a cavity-dumped Yb:KYW oscillator," Conference on Lasers and Electro Optics 2005, CTuI3.
11. S. V. Marchese, T. Südmeyer, M. Golling, R. Grange, and U. Keller, "Pulse energy scaling to 5 μJ from a femtosecond thin disk laser," Opt. Lett. 31, 2728-2730 (2006). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
12. B. Luther-Davies, V. Z. Kloev, M. J. Lederer, N. R. Madsen, A. V. Rode, J. Giesekus, K.-M. Du, and M. Duering, "Table-top 50-W laser system for ultra-fast laser ablation," Appl. Phys. A 79, 1051-1055 (2004). [CrossRef]
13. L. Shah and M. E. Fermann, "High power femtosecond fiber chirped pulse amplification system for high speed micromachining," to be published in the Proceedings of the 4th International Congress on Laser Advanced Materials Processing 2006

Appl. Phys. A

• B. Luther-Davies, V. Z. Kloev, M. J. Lederer, N. R. Madsen, A. V. Rode, J. Giesekus, K.-M. Du, and M. Duering, "Table-top 50-W laser system for ultra-fast laser ablation," Appl. Phys. A 79, 1051-1055 (2004). [CrossRef]

Electron. Lett.

• M. E. Fermann, M. Hofer, F. Haberl, and S. P. Craig-Ryan, "Femtosecond fiber laser," Electron. Lett. 26, 1737-1738 (1990). [CrossRef]

Opt. Express

• J. Limpert, T. Schreiber, A. Liem, S. Nolte, H. Zellmer, T. Peschel, V. Guyneot, and A. Tünnermann, "Thermo-optical properties of air-clad photonic crystal fiber lasers in high power operation," Opt. Express 11, 2982-2990 (2003). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

Opt. Express.

• L. Shah, Z. Liu, I. Hartl, G. Imeshev, G. C. Cho, and M. E. Fermann, "High energy femtosecond Yb cubicon fiber amplifier," Opt. Express. 13, 4717-4722 (2005). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

Opt. Lett.

• F. Roser, J. Rothhard, B. Ortac, A. Liem, O. Schmidt, T. Schreiber, J. Limpert, and A. Tunnermann, "131 W 220 fs fiber laser system," Opt. Lett. 30, 2754 (2005). [CrossRef] [PubMed]
• A. Galvanauskas, G. C. Cho, A. Hariharan, M. E. Fermann, and D. Harter, "Generation of high-energy femtosecond pulses in multimode-core Yb-fiber chirped-pulse amplification systems," Opt. Lett. 26, 935-937 (2001). [CrossRef]
• S. V. Marchese, T. Südmeyer, M. Golling, R. Grange, and U. Keller, "Pulse energy scaling to 5 μJ from a femtosecond thin disk laser," Opt. Lett. 31, 2728-2730 (2006). [CrossRef] [PubMed]

Proc. SPIE

• L. Shah, Z. Liu, I. Hartl, G. Imeshev, G. C. Cho, and M. E. Fermann, "Ultrafast high energy amplifiers beyond the B-integral limit," Proc. SPIE 6102,61020Z (2006). [CrossRef]

Other

• W. Molander, A. Komashko, J. Britten, L. Jones, C. Brown, J. Caird, I. Jovanovic, B. Wattellier, N. Nielson, D. Pennington and C. P. J. Barty, "Design and test of advanced multi-layer dielectric gratings for high energy petawatt" Inertial Fusion Sciences and Applications, 634-637 (2003).
• D. Nickel, C. Stolzenburg, A. Beyertt, A. Giesen, and F. Butze, "Design principles for ultrafast thin-disk regenerative amplifiers without conventional stretching," Conference on Lasers and Electro Optics 2005, CMA5.
• A. Killi, A. Steinmann, J. Dorring, U. Morgner, M. J. Lederer, and D. Kopf, "Microjoule femtosecond laser pulses from a cavity-dumped Yb:KYW oscillator," Conference on Lasers and Electro Optics 2005, CTuI3.
• http://www.imra.com
• L. Shah and M. E. Fermann, "High power femtosecond fiber chirped pulse amplification system for high speed micromachining," to be published in the Proceedings of the 4th International Congress on Laser Advanced Materials Processing 2006

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