Hybrid short-pulse amplifiers with phase-mismatch compensated pulse stretchers and compressors
First Claim
1. A system for amplification of short optical pulses, comprising:
- a compact stretcher receiving light pulses and outputting stretched light pulses therefrom;
an optical amplifier receiving the stretched light pulses and outputting amplified light pulses therefrom;
a compressor receiving the amplified light pulses and outputting compressed light pulses therefrom, said compressor having at least one light path wherein the amplified pulse is collimated, and comprising a lens arrangement inserted in said light path, said lens arrangement preserving collimation of said amplified pulse.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Disclosed is a system for amplification of ultrashort optical pulses. The disclosed system has reduced size and increased robustness, reliability and cost-effectiveness. The disclosed invention is particularly effective in chirped pulse amplification (CPA) systems wherein pulses are stretched, amplified, and re-compressed. According to one aspect of the invention a compact stretcher is used with a bulk compressor, and compatibility between them is achieved by inserting a telescope in the path of the collimated beam. Alternatively, compatibility between the stretcher and the compressor is achieved by creating nonlinearly chirped bragg grating in the fiber stretcher. According to another aspect of the invention, a fiber and a bulk amplifiers are used to amplify the pulse, and compatibility between them is achieved by inserting a doubling crystal in the path of the pulse between the two amplifiers. Another aspect of the disclosed amplification system is the pumping of a laser amplifier with a laser pump of the same material as the laser amplifier, but operating under different conditions.
-
Citations
43 Claims
-
1. A system for amplification of short optical pulses, comprising:
-
a compact stretcher receiving light pulses and outputting stretched light pulses therefrom; an optical amplifier receiving the stretched light pulses and outputting amplified light pulses therefrom; a compressor receiving the amplified light pulses and outputting compressed light pulses therefrom, said compressor having at least one light path wherein the amplified pulse is collimated, and comprising a lens arrangement inserted in said light path, said lens arrangement preserving collimation of said amplified pulse. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
-
-
9. A system for amplification of short optical pulses, comprising:
-
a selfphase modulation fiber an optical amplifier receiving stretched light pulses and outputting amplified light pulses therefrom; a compressor receiving the amplified light pulses and outputting compressed light pulses therefrom, said compressor having at least one light path wherein the amplified pulse is collimated, and comprising a lens arrangement inserted in said light path, said lens arrangement preserving collimation of said amplified pulse.
-
-
10. A system for producing short optical pulses, comprising:
-
a compact injection source producing light pulses; an optical amplifier receiving the light pulse and outputting amplified pulses therefrom; a compressor receiving the amplified pulses and outputting compressed pulses, said compressor having at least one collimated light path, and comprising a lens arrangement inserted in said collimated light path, wherein said lens arrangement preserves collimation. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13)
-
-
14. A system for amplification of short optical pulses, comprising:
-
a stretcher receiving light pulses and outputting stretched light pulses therefrom, said stretcher having at least one collimated light path, and wherein said stretcher comprises a lens arrangement inserted in said collimated light path; an optical amplifier receiving the stretched light pulses and outputting amplified light pulses therefrom; a compressor receiving the amplified light pulses and outputting compressed light pulses therefrom; wherein said lens arrangement preserves collimation of light passing therethrough. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17)
-
-
18. A system for amplification of short optical pulses, comprising:
-
a stretcher receiving light pulses and outputting stretched light pulses therefrom; a nonlinear group velocity dispersion compensator, said compensator having at least one collimated light path, and comprising a lens arrangement inserted in said collimated light path; an optical amplifier receiving the light pulses from said compensator and outputting compensated amplified light pulses; a compressor receiving the compensated amplified light pulses and outputting compressed light pulses therefrom wherein said lens arrangement preserves collimation of said light pulses passing therethrough. - View Dependent Claims (19, 39)
-
-
20. A system for amplification of short optical pulses, comprising:
-
a stretcher receiving light pulses and outputting stretched light pulses therefrom, said stretcher comprising a nonlinearly chirped fiber grating; an optical amplifier receiving the stretched light pulses and outputting amplified light pulses therefrom; a compressor receiving the amplified light pulses and outputting compressed light pulses therefrom.
-
-
21. A method for compensating nonlinear group velocity dispersion mismatch between a stretcher and a compressor in a system for amplification of short optical pulses, said method comprising inserting at least one lens arrangement in a spatially chirped collimated beam in one of said stretcher and compressor, wherein the lens arrangement preserves collimation of light passing therethrough.
-
22. A method for compensating nonlinear group velocity dispersion mismatch between a stretcher and a compressor in a system for amplification of short optical pulses, said method comprising creating a nonlinearly chirped Bragg grating in said stretcher.
-
23. An apparatus for amplifying stretched ultrashort pulses, comprising:
-
a first gain media having a predefined amplification band; a second gain media having a predefined amplification band which does not overlap the amplification band of said first gain media; a nonlinear optical crystal inserted in a light path between said first and second gain media for achieving wavelength matching between said first and second gain media.
-
-
24. In an apparatus for amplifying stretched ultrashort pulses, said apparatus comprising a first gain media having a predefined amplification band and a second gain media having a predefined amplification band which does not overlap the amplification band of said first gain media, a method for achieving wavelength matching between said first and second gain media, said method comprising inserting a nonlinear optical crystal in a light path between said first and second gain.
-
25. An optical amplification system, comprising:
-
a laser amplifier operating at a first set of predetermined conditions; a pump laser consisting essentially of the same material as the amplifier and operating under a second set of predetermined operating conditions different from said first set of operating conditions to thereby emit light at a shorter wavelength than said amplifier and match an absorption band of said amplifier. - View Dependent Claims (27, 29, 33)
-
-
26. A method for operating an optical amplification system, said optical amplification system comprising a laser amplifier and a pump laser consisting essentially of the same material as the amplifier, the method comprising:
-
operating said laser amplifier at a first set of predetermined conditions; operating said pump laser under a second set of predetermined operating conditions different from said first set of operating conditions to thereby cause said pump laser to emit light at a shorter wavelength than said amplifier and to match an absorption band of said amplifier. - View Dependent Claims (28, 30, 31, 32, 34)
-
-
35. An optical amplification system, comprising:
-
a switched regenerative amplifier receiving light pulses and amplifying said light pulses; a doubling crystal for doubling the frequency of said light pulses before said light pulses enter said regenerative amplifier; means for splitting said light signals after said light signals pass through said doubling crystal but before said light pulses enter said regenerative amplifier, to thereby produce a main beam and a secondary beam of said light pulse; means for diverting said secondary beam for operating a switch of said switched regenerative amplifier.
-
-
36. An optical amplification system, comprising:
-
an oscillator for producing light pulses having a defined frequency; a stretcher for stretching said light pulses; a compact amplifier for amplifying said light pulses received from said stretcher; a doubling crystal receiving said light pulses from said compact amplifier and doubling the frequency of said light pulses; a bulk amplifier receiving said light pulses from said doubling crystal and amplifying said light pulses; a compressor receiving said light pulses from said bulk amplifier and compressing said light pulses. - View Dependent Claims (37, 38)
-
-
40. A system for amplification of short optical pulses, comprising:
-
a stretcher receiving light pulses and outputting stretched light pulses therefrom; an optical amplifier receiving the stretched light pulses and outputting amplified light pulses therefrom; a compressor receiving the amplified light pulses and outputting compressed light pulses therefrom, said compressor comprising a nonlinearly chirped fiber grating.
-
-
41. A system for amplification of short optical pulses, comprising:
-
a stretcher receiving light pulses and outputting stretched light pulses therefrom; an optical amplifier receiving the stretched light pulses and outputting amplified light pulses therefrom; a compressor receiving the amplified light pulses and outputting compressed light pulses therefrom; a group velocity dispersion compensator comprising a nonlinearly chirped fiber grating.
-
-
42. An optical amplification system, comprising:
-
an oscillator for producing light pulses having a defined frequency; a stretcher for stretching said light pulses; a compact amplifier for amplifying said light pulses received from said stretcher; a beam splitter for splitting said light pulses; a bulk amplifier comprising an electro-optical switch responsive to light pulses from said beam spliter.
-
-
43. A system for producing short optical pulses, comprising:
-
a compact injection source producing light pulses; an optical amplifier for amplifying said optical pulses; a nonlinear group velocity dispersion compensator, said compensator having at least one collimated light path, and comprising a lens arrangement inserted in said collimated light path; a compressor receiving the compensated amplified light pulses and outputting compressed light pulses therefrom.
-
Specification