Optical parametric amplification for high peak and average power

Optical parametric amplification is an established broadband amplification technology based on a second-order nonlinear process of difference-frequency generation (DFG). When used in chirped pulse amplification (CPA), the technology has been termed optical parametric chirped pulse amplification (OPCPA). OPCPA holds a potential for producing unprecedented levels of peak and average power in optical pulses through its scalable ultrashort pulse amplification capability and the absence of quantum defect, respectively.; The theory of three-wave parametric interactions is presented, followed by a description of the numerical model developed for nanosecond pulses. Spectral, temperature and angular characteristics of OPCPA are calculated, with an estimate of pulse contrast. An OPCPA system centered at 1054 nm, based on a commercial tabletop Q-switched pump laser, was developed as the front end for a large Nd:glass petawatt-class short-pulse laser. The system does not utilize electro-optic modulators or multipass amplification. The obtained overall 6% efficiency is the highest to date in OPCPA that uses a tabletop commercial pump laser. The first compression of pulses amplified in highly nondegenerate OPCPA is reported, with the obtained pulse width of 60 fs. This represents the shortest pulse to date produced in OPCPA. Optical parametric amplification in β-barium borate was combined with laser amplification in Ti:sapphire to produce the first hybrid CPA system, with an overall conversion efficiency of 15%. Hybrid CPA combines the benefits of high gain in OPCPA with high conversion efficiency in Ti:sapphire to allow significant simplification of future tabletop multi-terawatt sources. Preliminary modeling of average power limits in OPCPA and pump laser design are presented, and an approach based on cascaded DFG is proposed to increase the average power beyond the single-crystal limit. Angular and beam quality effects in optical parametric amplification are modeled using plane-wave decomposition. Finally, some possible future applications are outlined.; It is expected that OPCPA will be an important technology for future high power short-pulse lasers and will allow novel applications in high-field science. Its scalability beyond 10 petawatts using the existing diffractive grating compression technology, and the possibility of producing average powers beyond 1 kW in ultrashort pulses provide motivation for future work.