Temporal compression of mode-locked pulses for laser-fusion diagnostics

Regenerative compression of mode-locked laser pulses has been developed to provide a temporally short probe pulse for diagnosing laser-fusion plasmas. A single mode-locked pulse injected into a regenerative amplifier is compressed by an intracavity saturable dye. Analysis indicates the best operational mode and choice of experimental parameters. Experiments using Nd:YAG and Eastman A9740 dye demonstrate an eightfold compression from 120 to 15 ps with a shot-to-shot stability of ±4 percent. An oscillator/regenerative compressor system demonstrates a 15 ps probe pulse synchronized within ±5 ps to a 1000 ps target-heating pulse.