Carrier-Envelope Phase control using a transmission grating compressor and an AOPDF

Stabilizing the carrier-phase-envelope (CEP) in grating-based CPA systems is of prime interest since they can produce significantly higher pulse energies than lasers with prism-based compressors. It was recently shown that feedback control of the effective grating separation in either the stretcher or compressor could be used as a method for correcting for the slow phase drift of the amplified pulses. Using small pulse stretching factors has the advantage of keeping minimal optical paths, thereby minimizing the sources of dispersion fluctuations and offering better prospects for long-term CEP stability. This paper demonstrates CEP stabilization of a 2 mJ, 26 fs, 1 kHz Ti:Sa amplifier featuring a bulk material stretcher followed by a transmission grating compressor and chirped mirrors. Also, the arbitrary control of the CEP using an AOPDF is demonstrated, thus opening the way to fully integrated control over both the spectral phase and the CEP of any CPA laser featuring an AOPDF.