Broadening and Amplification of an Infrared Femtosecond Pulse for Optical Parametric Chirped-Pulse Amplification

A high-average-power diode-pumped narrowband regenerative chirped pulse amplifier is developed using the thin-rod Nd:YAG laser architecture for optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification (OPCPA). The effect of the etalons on the amplified pulse in the regenerative cavity is studied experimentally and theoretically. By inserting glass etalons of thickness 1 mm and 5 mm into the regenerative cavity, the pre-stretching pulse from an Öffner stretcher is further broadened to above 200 ps, which matches the amplification windows of the signal pulses in OPCPA and is suitable for use as a pump source in the OPCPA system. The bandwidth of the amplified pulse is 1.5 nm, and an output energy of 2 mJ is achieved at a repetition rate of 10 Hz.