Rod-type fiber amplifier for pulse compression of high power thin-disk lasers

Nonlinear pulse compression in passive large mode area (LMA) fiber is an alternative that has proven excellent performance. However, in this approach, pulse energy scaling requires larger mode areas where TEM₀₀ propagation is challenging mainly due to bending and stress issues. An interesting alternative is the use of rod-type fiber amplifier based pulse compressors, where the main amplifier stage accounts for significant SPM spectral broadening. We report here on a pulse compressor for a high-power thin disk laser oscillator based on a LMA rod-type fiber amplifier.