Active tuning of temporal dispersion in an ultrashort pulse laser system
First Claim
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1. A chirped pulse amplification system, comprising:
- a pulse generator, configured to generate a laser pulse;
a pulse stretcher, configured to generate a stretched pulse from the laser pulse by dispersing it temporally as a function of wavelength;
a pulse amplifier, configured to generate an amplified pulse from the stretched pulse; and
a pulse compressor comprising a Bragg fiber, configured to generate a compressed pulse from the amplified pulse, wherein the pulse stretcher or the pulse compressor is tunable to control a total group velocity dispersion of the chirped pulsed amplification system.
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Abstract
A chirped pulse amplification (CPA) system and method is described wherein the dispersion of the system is tuned by actively tuning one or more system components, for example, using a temperature or strain gradient, or using actinic radiation. In other embodiments, an additional element, such as a modulator, is added to the CPA system to actively to tune the pulse. A pulse monitor is added to the system to measure an output pulse and provide feedback to one or more active tuning elements.
509 Citations
28 Claims
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1. A chirped pulse amplification system, comprising:
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a pulse generator, configured to generate a laser pulse; a pulse stretcher, configured to generate a stretched pulse from the laser pulse by dispersing it temporally as a function of wavelength; a pulse amplifier, configured to generate an amplified pulse from the stretched pulse; and a pulse compressor comprising a Bragg fiber, configured to generate a compressed pulse from the amplified pulse, wherein the pulse stretcher or the pulse compressor is tunable to control a total group velocity dispersion of the chirped pulsed amplification system. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A method, comprising the steps of:
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generating a laser pulse; amplifying the laser pulse using an optical amplifier, to produce an amplified pulse; compressing the amplified pulse using a pulse compressor comprising a Bragg fiber, to produce a compressed pulse; measuring a temporal width of the compressed pulse; and dynamically tuning total group velocity dispersion of the system to control a temporal width of the compressed pulse responsive to the measured temporal width. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27)
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28. A system, comprising:
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a chirped pulse source configured to generate a chirped pulse; an amplifier configured to generate an amplified pulse from the chirped pulse; a compressor configured to generate a compressed pulse from the amplified pulse, the compressor comprising a Bragg fiber; an active tuning element configured to tune a temporal dispersion of the system and control a temporal width of the compressed pulse; and a pulse monitor configured to measure one or more characteristics of the compressed pulse, the active tuning element being responsive to an output of the pulse monitor.
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Specification