optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification (original) (raw)

Acronym: OPCPA

Definition: parametric amplification of chirped ultrashort pulses

Categories: article belongs to category light pulses light pulses, article belongs to category methods methods

Related: chirped-pulse amplificationoptical parametric amplifiersoptical amplifierschromatic dispersionnonlinearitiesultrashort pulsespulse compression

Page views in 12 months: 2033

DOI: 10.61835/19r Cite the article: BibTex BibLaTex plain textHTML Link to this page! LinkedIn

Content quality and neutrality are maintained according to our editorial policy.

📦 For purchasing optical parametric chirped-pulse amplifiers, use the RP Photonics Buyer's Guide — an expert-curated directory for finding all relevant suppliers, which also offers advanced purchasing assistance.

Contents

What is Optical Parametric Chirped-pulse Amplification?

The concept of chirped-pulse amplification was originally developed for the amplification of ultrashort pulses with laser amplifiers, but it was soon realized that it is also very suitable for optical parametric amplifiers (OPAs), another kind of ultrafast amplifiers. At high pulse energies, these devices also profit from a strong reduction in the peak intensities by amplifying temporally stretched (chirped) pulses. Stretching to chirped signal pulse durations of the order of 1 ns makes it possible to apply much higher pump energies and therefore to obtain much higher amplified pulse energies.

Furthermore, one no longer needs ultrashort pump pulses, but can rather resort to powerful and comparatively simple Q-switched lasers as pump sources in the nanosecond regime. (Note that a parametric amplifier, in contrast to a laser amplifier, requires pump pulses with durations similar to those of the signal pulses because there is no energy storage in the gain medium.)

Advantages of the OPCPA Concept

Compared with classical chirped-pulse amplification based on laser gain media, OPCPA has a number of important advantages:

On the other hand, disadvantages of the OPCPA concept (compared with classical CPA with laser amplifiers) are

Terawatt and Petawatt Peak Powers

Some large laser facilities, which originally started with more traditional chirped-pulse amplification, have adopted the OPCPA technique for achieving extremely high peak powers [6, 7, 14, 15, 16]. Such systems employ at least two amplification stages, with a preamplifier typically based on a borate crystal (BBO or LBO), whereas KDP is used for the final amplifier stage because of the possibility to fabricate KDP crystals with very large useful apertures. A titanium–sapphire laser can serve as the seed source, and high-energy frequency-doubled Q-switched lasers generate the pump pulses. In some cases, a laser amplifier (with moderate gain) is used for the last amplifier stage, but all-parametric systems are also under investigation. The latter already reach peak powers of hundreds of terawatts [17], and it is expected that multi-petawatt peak powers will be reached soon.

Few-cycle Pulse Amplification

The largest amplification bandwidth can be reached with certain noncollinear phase-matching schemes, based on, e.g., a BBO amplifier crystal pumped with few-picosecond pulses from a frequency-doubled mode-locked titanium–sapphire laser. The term noncollinear optical parametric amplifier (NOPA) has been coined. Compared with the above-mentioned high-energy systems, NOPAs typically operate with a relatively short interaction length, much shorter pump pulses and correspondingly lower amplified pulse energies, but reach compressed pulse durations in the few-cycle regime down to ≈ 4–5 femtoseconds. For simplicity, the seed pulse can be taken from a supercontinuum derived from the pump laser itself, avoiding the need to synchronize a separate seed laser with the pump laser.

A range of interesting concepts can be utilized in this domain. For example, one may realize wideband phase matching (“_achromatic phase matching_”) by angularly dispersing the signal beam such that each frequency component of the signal is properly phase-matched. Similar effects are achieved with tilting of the pulse fronts in the amplifier crystal (pulse front matched geometry); even in a collinear geometry, this allows for a very large phase-matching bandwidth [2, 5]. Wavelength tuning, which makes such systems very interesting for various scientific applications, is sometimes possible in a relatively wide range. Another important issue is the precise optimization of stretcher/compressor setups [9].

Compact Systems

The use of highly nonlinear quasi-phase-matched crystals allows for very high gains with moderate pump pulse energies. Although such systems typically generate pulses with durations of hundreds of femtoseconds and energies of microjoules or up to a few millijoules, these performance values are sufficient for a wide range of applications, and such systems can be made very compact and efficient.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification (OPCPA)?

OPCPA is a technique used to amplify ultrashort pulses to very high energy levels. It applies the principle of chirped-pulse amplification to an optical parametric amplifier, where a pulse is temporally stretched before amplification and recompressed afterward.

What are the main advantages of OPCPA over laser-based amplification?

OPCPA offers very high gain in a single pass, enabling simpler and more compact setups. It also provides a very broad gain bandwidth for few-cycle pulse generation, minimal thermal effects for high beam quality, and excellent pulse contrast.

Why can OPCPA systems use nanosecond pump lasers?

In OPCPA, the signal pulse is stretched to a duration of nanoseconds. Since parametric amplification is an instantaneous process that requires temporal overlap between pump and signal, this allows the use of powerful and simple Q-switched lasers with nanosecond pulse durations.

How can OPCPA generate extremely high peak powers?

By stretching the pulses, the peak intensity during amplification is kept below the damage threshold of the optics, allowing for much higher pulse energies. Combined with low thermal effects and the availability of large-aperture nonlinear crystals, this allows scaling to terawatt and even petawatt peak powers.

What is a noncollinear optical parametric amplifier (NOPA)?

A NOPA is a specific type of optical parametric amplifier where the pump and signal beams are not parallel. This noncollinear geometry allows for very broad phase-matching bandwidth, making NOPAs ideal for amplifying pulses to few-cycle durations, often down to a few femtoseconds.

Suppliers

Sponsored content: The RP Photonics Buyer's Guide contains ten suppliers for optical parametric chirped-pulse amplifiers. Among them:

Light Conversion

⚙ hardware

optical parametric chirped-pulse amplifiers

Optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification (OPCPA) is currently the only laser technology that simultaneously provides the high peak and average power along with few-cycle pulse duration required by the most demanding scientific applications. Our portfolio of cutting edge OPCPA products is based on years of experience in developing and manufacturing optical parametric amplifiers and femtosecond lasers. The few-cycle, CEP-stable pulses come either in a compact table-top ORPHEUS-OPCPA or a large, TW-level OPCPA-HE, similar to SYLOS at ELI ALPS.

TOPTICA Photonics

⚙ hardware

optical parametric chirped-pulse amplifiers

TOPTICA’s FemtoFiber dichro midIR generates radiation at 3 μm — 15 μm. Based on difference frequency generation of two optically synchronized laser pulses at tunable wavelengths of 1 — 2 μm a highly stable broadband emission of approximately 400 cm−1 is generated. Here, the output at 1560 nm of an erbium-doped ultrafast fiber laser is superimposed with the long or short wavelength part of a supercontinuum.

The CEO-free mid-IR laser pulses are applied to attosecond spectroscopy where the extreme UV pulses consist of only a few optical cycles. The conversion of mid-IR radiation to extreme UV is accomplished by high harmonic generation. First, the mid-IR pulses are subject to optical parametric chirped amplification (OPCPA). Then, the intense laser fields are launched into an atomic beam or a gas-filled hollow core fibre to generate extreme UV attosecond laser pulses via high harmonics.

Class 5 Photonics

⚙ hardware

optical parametric chirped-pulse amplifiers

Class 5 Photonics delivers ultrafast, high-power laser technology at outstanding performance to advance demanding applications from bio-imaging to ultrafast material science and attosecond science. Our robust optical parametric chirped pulse amplifiers (OPCPA) provide high-power, tunable femtosecond pulses at user-friendly operation.

Features of the White Dwarf OPCPA 5 W:

White Dwarf HE OPCPA 30 W:

Supernova OPCPA 100 W:

Bibliography

[1] A. Dubietis et al., “Powerful femtosecond pulse generation by chirped and stretched pulse parametric amplification in BBO crystal”, Opt. Commun. 88, 433 (1992); doi:10.1016/0030-4018(92)90070-8
[2] R. Danielius et al., “Matching of group velocities by spatial walk-off in collinear three-wave interaction with tilted pulses”, Opt. Lett. 21 (13), 973 (1996); doi:10.1364/OL.21.000973
[3] I. N. Ross et al., “The prospects for ultrashort pulse duration and ultrahigh intensity using optical parametric chirped pulse amplifiers”, Opt. Commun. 144, 125 (1997); doi:10.1016/S0030-4018(97)00399-4
[4] T. Wilhelm et al., “Sub-20-fs pulses tunable across the visible from a blue-pumped single-pass noncollinear parametric converter”, Opt. Lett. 22 (19), 1494 (1997); doi:10.1364/OL.22.001494
[5] R. Danielius et al., “A collinearly phase-matched parametric generator/amplifier of visible femtosecond pulses”, IEEE J. Quantum Electron. 34 (3), 459 (1998); doi:10.1109/3.661453
[6] I. N. Ross et al., “Generation of terawatt pulses by use of optical parametric chirped pulse amplification”, Appl. Opt. 39 (15), 2422 (2000); doi:10.1364/AO.39.002422
[7] X. Yang et al., “Multiterawatt laser system based on optical parametric chirped pulse amplification”, Opt. Lett. 27 (13), 1135 (2002); doi:10.1364/OL.27.001135
[8] T. Kobayashi and A. Baltuška, “Sub-5 fs pulse generation from a noncollinear optical parametric amplifier”, Meas. Sci. Technol. 13, 1671 (2002); doi:10.1088/0957-0233/13/11/303
[9] A. Baltuška et al., “Visible pulse compression to 4 fs by optical parametric amplification and programmable dispersion control”, Opt. Lett. 27 (5), 306 (2002); doi:10.1364/OL.27.000306
[10] G. Arisholm et al., “Ultra-broadband chirped-pulse optical parametric amplifier with angularly dispersed beams”, Opt. Express 12 (3), 518 (2004); doi:10.1364/OPEX.12.000518
[11] R. Butkus et al., “Progress in chirped pulse optical parametric amplifiers”, Appl. Phys. B 79, 693 (2004); doi:10.1007/s00340-004-1614-3
[12] G. Kurdi et al., “Optical parametric amplification of femtosecond ultraviolet laser pulses”, J. Sel. Top. Quantum Electron. 10 (6), 1259 (2004); doi:10.1109/JSTQE.2004.837706
[13] J.-C. Wang and J.-K. Wang, “Experimental and theoretical analysis of white light seeded, collinear phase-matching, femtosecond optical parametric amplifiers”, J. Opt. Soc. Am. B 21 (1), 45 (2004); doi:10.1364/JOSAB.21.000045
[14] Y. Kitagawa et al., “Prepulse-free petawatt laser for a fast ignitor”, IEEE J. Quantum Electron. 40 (3), 281 (2004); doi:10.1109/JQE.2003.823043
[15] C. N. Danson et al., “Vulcan petawatt: design, operation, and interactions at 5 × 1020 W cm−2”, Laser Part. Beams 23, 87 (2005); doi:10.1017/S0263034605050159
[16] L. J. Waxer et al., “High-energy petawatt capability for the Omega laser”, Opt. Photon. News 16 (7), 30 (2005); doi:10.1364/OPN.16.7.000030
[17] V. V. Lozhkarev et al., “200 TW 45 fs laser based on optical parametric chirped pulse amplification”, Opt. Express 14 (1), 446 (2006); doi:10.1364/OPEX.14.000446
[18] F. Ö. Ilday and F. X. Kärtner, “Cavity-enhanced optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification”, Opt. Lett. 31 (5), 637 (2006); doi:10.1364/OL.31.000637
[19] A. Dubietis et al., “Trends in chirped pulse optical parametric amplification”, J. Sel. Top. Quantum Electron. 12 (2), 163 (2006); doi:10.1109/JSTQE.2006.871962
[20] F. Tavella et al., “Dispersion management for a sub-10-fs, 10 TW optical parametric chirped-pulse amplifier”, Opt. Lett. 32 (15), 2227 (2007); doi:10.1364/OL.32.002227
[21] S. Adachi et al., “5-fs, multi-mJ, CEP-locked parametric chirped-pulse amplifier pumped by a 450-nm source at 1 kHz”, Opt. Express 16 (19), 14341 (2008); doi:10.1364/OE.16.014341
[22] J. Rothhardt et al., “High average and peak power few-cycle laser pulses delivered by fiber pumped OPCPA system”, Opt. Express 18 (12), 12719 (2010); doi:10.1364/OE.18.012719
[23] C. Caucheteur et al., “Experimental demonstration of optical parametric chirped pulse amplification in optical fiber”, Opt. Lett. 35 (11), 1786 (2010); doi:10.1364/OL.35.001786
[24] S. Witte and K. S. E. Eikema, “Ultrafast optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification”, J. Sel. Top. Quantum Electron. 18 (1), 296 (2012); doi:10.1109/JSTQE.2011.2118370
[25] D. E. Rivas et al., “Next generation driver for attosecond and laser-plasma physics”, Nature Sci. Rep. 7, article 5224 (2017); doi:10.1038/s41598-017-05082-w
[26] W. Fu and F. W. Wise, “Normal-dispersion fiber optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification”, Opt. Lett. 43 (21), 5331 (2018); doi:10.1364/OL.43.005331
[27] M. Kretschmar et al., “Thin-disk laser-pumped OPCPA system delivering 4.4 TW few-cycle pulses”, Opt. Express 28 (23), 34574 (2020); doi:10.1364/OE.404077
[28] L. Xu and E. J. Takahashi, “Dual-chirped optical parametric amplification of high-energy single-cycle laser pulses”, Nature Photonics 18, 99 (2024); doi:10.1038/s41566-023-01331-9

(Suggest additional literature!)

Questions and Comments from Users

Here you can submit questions and comments. As far as they get accepted by the author, they will appear above this paragraph together with the author’s answer. The author will decide on acceptance based on certain criteria. Essentially, the issue must be of sufficiently broad interest.

Please do not enter personal data here. (See also our privacy declaration.) If you wish to receive personal feedback or consultancy from the author, please contact him, e.g. via e-mail.

By submitting the information, you give your consent to the potential publication of your inputs on our website according to our rules. (If you later retract your consent, we will delete those inputs.) As your inputs are first reviewed by the author, they may be published with some delay.