Design of PETAL multipetawatt high-energy laser front end based on optical parametric chirped pulse amplification.

We report on a single shot optical parametric chirped pulse amplifier designed to seed the Petawatt Aquitaine Laser on the Laser Integration Line facility multipetawatt high-energy laser. The scheme is based on a stretched signal pulse at 1053 nm amplified with 20% conversion efficiency by a monomode pump pulse at 527 nm. The homemade pump laser is able to deliver a single shot beam with a square flat top spatial profile and programmable temporal shape.

Generation of variable width pulses from an Yb(3+): YAG Integrated Dumper - Regenerative Amplifier.

We propose an original optical architecture for the construction of an Integrated Dumper - Regenerative Amplifier, by combining pulse generation and pulse slicing together with downstream regenerative amplification within a common amplifying unit and resonator. This design provides relatively short pulses at high energy, using a fairly simple and robust two-path resonator. The demonstration is performed with the help of a diode-pumped Yb(3+): YAG slab operated at room temperature at 1Hz PRF, in the energy range of 5 to 50mJ per pulse with 500ps to 5ns FWHM.