Amplification of broad-band chirped pulses up to the 100-mJ level using alexandrite-pumped neodymium-doped glasses

Author

Gamache, C. ; Descamps, D. ; Husson, D. ; Seznec, S. ; Migus, A.

Author_Institution

Centre de Limeil-Brevannes, CEA, Villeneuve-St-Georges, France

Volume

32

Issue

8

fYear

1996

fDate

8/1/1996 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

1504

Lastpage

1512

Abstract

An alexandrite laser is used to longitudinally end-pump mixed Nd:glass rods in a multipass arrangement in order to amplify chirped pulses in the 50-100-mJ range at a 1-Hz repetition rate. This system has a broad-band capability of up to 8-10 nm output bandwidth. We have developed a model, which in our specific case of amplification of chirped-pulse, takes into account the exact configuration of the rods, their spectral properties, and the longitudinal pumping geometry. An agreement between experiment and theory is obtained by assuming a pump quantum efficiency of the order of 60%

Keywords

chirp modulation; high-speed optical techniques; laser theory; neodymium; optical modulation; optical pumping; solid lasers; 100 mJ; 50 to 100 mJ; 60 percent; Hz repetition rate; alexandrite laser; alexandrite-pumped neodymium-doped glasses; broad-band capability; broad-band chirped pulses; chirped pulses; longitudinal pumping geometry; longitudinally end-pump; mJ level; mixed Nd:glass rods; multipass arrangement; nm output bandwidth; pump quantum efficiency; spectral properties; Bandwidth; Chirp; Glass; Laser excitation; Laser modes; Neodymium; Optical pulses; Pulse amplifiers; Pump lasers; Ultrafast optics;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9197

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/3.511564

Filename

511564