224 results about "Chirped pulse amplification" patented technology

A chirped pulse amplification system includes one or more polarization compensator configured to compensate for polarization altering elements with the chirped pulse amplification system. The polarization compensator is responsive to a sensor configured to provide feedback to the polarization compensator. In some embodiments, the chirped pulse amplification system further includes a controller configured to automatically adjust the polarization compensator responsive to the sensor. The sensor is optionally a power sensor.

A modular ultrafast pulse laser system is constructed of individually pre-tested components manufactured as modules. The individual modules include an oscillator, pre-amplifier and power amplifier stages, a non-linear amplifier, and a stretcher and compressor. The individual modules can typically be connected by means of simple fiber splices.

By compensating polarization mode-dispersion as well chromatic dispersion in photonic crystal fiber pulse compressors, high pulse energies can be obtained from all-fiber chirped pulse amplification systems. By inducing third-order dispersion in fiber amplifiers via self-phase modulation, the third-order chromatic dispersion from bulk grating pulse compressors can be compensated and the pulse quality of hybrid fiber / bulk chirped pulse amplification systems can be improved. Finally, by amplifying positively chirped pulses in negative dispersion fiber amplifiers, low noise wavelength tunable seed source via anti-Stokes frequency shifting can be obtained.

An erbium fiber (or erbium-ytterbium) based chirped pulse amplification system is illustrated. The use of fiber amplifiers operating in the telecommunications window enables the implementation of telecommunications components and telecommunications compatible assembly procedures with superior mechanical stability.

By compensating polarization mode-dispersion as well chromatic dispersion in photonic crystal fiber pulse compressors, high pulse energies can be obtained from all-fiber chirped pulse amplification systems. By inducing third-order dispersion in fiber amplifiers via self-phase modulation, the third-order chromatic dispersion from bulk grating pulse compressors can be compensated and the pulse quality of hybrid fiber / bulk chirped pulse amplification systems can be improved. Finally, by amplifying positively chirped pulses in negative dispersion fiber amplifiers, low noise wavelength tunable seed source via anti-Stokes frequency shifting can be obtained.

A novel method for high power optical amplification of ultrashort pulses in IR wavelength range (0.7-20 Ãm) is disclosed. The method is based on the optical parametric chirp pulse amplification (OPCPA) technique where a picosecond or nanosecond mode locked laser system synchronized to a signal laser oscillator is used as a pump source or alternatively the pump pulse is created from the signal pulse by using certain types of optical nonlinear processes described later in the document. This significantly increases stability, extraction efficiency and bandwidth of the amplified signal pulse. Further, we disclose five new practical methods of shaping the temporal and spatial profiles of the signal and pump pulses in the OPCPA interaction which significantly increases its efficiency. In the first, passive preshaping of the pump pulses has been made by a three wave mixing process separate from the one occurring in the OPCPA. In the second, passive pre-shaping of the pump pulses has been made by spectral filtering in the pump mode-locked laser or in its amplifier. In the third, the temporal shape of the signal pulse optimized for OPCPA interaction has been actively processed by using an acousto-optic programmable dispersive filter (Dazzler) or liquid crystal light modulators. In the fourth alternative method, the signal pulse intensity envelope is optimized by using passive spectral filtering. Finally, we disclose a method of using pump pulses which interact with the seed pulses with different time delays and different angular orientations allowing the amplification bandwidth to be increased. In addition we describe a new technique for high power IR optical beam delivery systems based on the microstructure fibres made of silica, fluoride or chalcogenide glasses as well as ceramics. Also we disclose a new optical system for achieving phase matching geometries in the optical parametric interactions based on diffractive optics. All novel methods of the ultrashort optical pulse amplification described in this disclosure can be easily generalized to other wavelength ranges.

Methods, devices and systems for generating ultrashort optical linear chirped pulses with very high power by amplifying the pulses so that their temporal duration is longer than the storage time of the amplifying medium. The additional gain factor is related to the ratio of the storage time to the stretched pulse. A preferred embodiment connects a mode locked laser source that generates optical pulses whose duration is stretched with a chirped fiber Bragg grating. Embodiments include methods, devices and systems causing an extreme chirped pulse amplifier (XCPA) effect in an oscillator.

By writing non-linear chirp into fiber Bragg gratings, greater control over dispersion compensation in CPA systems is obtained, such that, for example, the dispersion profile of the fiber Bragg grating and a bulk compressor may be matched. An iterative method of writing the fiber grating can reduce the group delay ripple to very low levels; and adaptive control of the fiber grating dispersion profile can further reduce these levels, while in addition offering greater acceptable yield in the manufacture of such gratings. Fiber Bragg gratings may be designed so as to provide customized pulse shapes optimized for various end uses, such as micromachining, for example, and may also be used to counteract gain-narrowing in a downstream amplifier.

A chirped pulse amplification (CPA) system and method is described wherein the pulse is stretched using multiple passes through a Bragg grating or compressed using multiple passes through a Bragg grating. A switch may be used to control the number of passes through the Bragg grating, thus, tuning the compressed or the stretched pulse width. The pulse may be directed through an amplifier between the multiple passes through the Bragg grating to apply amplification to the stretched pulse multiple times. The Bragg grating may include a fiber Bragg grating, a volume Bragg grating, or a Bragg waveguide.

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.

A grating pulse compressor configuration is introduced for increasing the optical dispersion for a given footprint and to make practical the application for chirped pulse amplification (CPA) to quasi-narrow bandwidth materials, such as Nd:YAG. The grating configurations often use cascaded pairs of gratings to increase angular dispersion an order of magnitude or more. Increased angular dispersion allows for decreased grating separation and a smaller compressor footprint.

The present invention generally concerns the use of Bragg optical fibers in chirped pulse amplification systems for the production of high-pulse-energy ultrashort optical pulses. A gas-core Bragg optical fiber waveguide can be advantageously used in such systems to stretch the duration of pulses so that they can be amplified, and / or Bragg fibers can be used to compress optical signals into much shorter duration pulses after they have been amplified. Bragg fibers can also function as near-zero-dispersion delay lines in amplifier sections.

A optical parameter chirp pulse amplification laser system, includes a titanium gem femtosecond mode-locking pulse oscillator, a first splitting film, a CEP steady signal pulse source, an OPCPA synchronous pumping source, an OPCPA amplifier stage and compressor. In the output beam direction of the titanium gem femtosecond mode-locking pulse oscillator is the first splitting film, which divides a laser beam into a transmission light beam and a reflection light beam, and in the said transmission light beam is said CEP steady signal pulse source, OPCPA amplifier stage and compressor in order. The said CEP steady signal pulse source comprises a photonic crystal optical fiber, a chirp mirror, a period polarization lithium niobate crystal and a stretcher; said OPCPA amplifier stage comprises a first two-tone mirror, a first nonlinear crystal, a second two-tone mirror and a second nonlinear crystal; said OPCPA synchronous pumping source comprises a Q-tuning frequency-multiplier YAG laser, a narrowband titanium gem regenerating amplifier and a second splitting film, and a holophote. The invention apparatus may get a near-infrared ultrashort laser pulse output with a pulse width less than 30 femtoseconds.

A Chirped pulse amplification (CPA) fiber laser system. The CPA fiber laser system includes a fiber mode-locking (ML) oscillator implemented as a cavity dumped ML oscillator including a cavity dumper for generating a seed laser at a reduced repetition rate to project to a pulse stretcher for stretching a pulse width of the laser. The CPA fiber laser system further includes a multistage amplifier chain for generating an amplified laser to project to a compressor for compressing the amplified laser. The multistage amplifier chain further includes a hybrid amplifier includes a solid-state amplifier to generate a laser of approximately 1˜10 mJ for a 10-100 KHz repetition rate.

By writing non-linear chirp into fiber Bragg gratings, greater control over dispersion compensation in chirped pulse amplification (CPA) systems is obtained, such that, for example, the dispersion profile of the fiber Bragg grating and a bulk compressor may be matched. An iterative method of writing the fiber grating can reduce the group delay ripple to very low levels; and adaptive control of the fiber grating dispersion profile can further reduce these levels, while in addition offering greater acceptable yield in the manufacture of such gratings. Fiber Bragg gratings may be designed so as to provide customized pulse shapes optimized for various end uses, such as micromachining, for example, and may also be used to counteract gain-narrowing in a downstream amplifier.

A fiber Chirped Pulse Amplification (CPA) laser system includes a fiber mode-locking oscillator for generating a laser for projecting to a fiber stretcher for stretching a pulse width of the laser. The fiber CPA laser system further includes a multistage amplifier for amplifying the laser and a high-order dispersion compensating compressor for compensating high order dispersions and compressing the pulse width of the laser. The high-order dispersion compensating compressor further includes a pair of gratings coupled with a pair of prisms, a grating pair engraved on the surfaces of a pair of prisms, a chirped grating pair and a phase modulator consists of a grating and a deformable mirror, for generating a negative group velocity dispersion (GVD) and a negative third order dispersion (TOD) for the laser.

Methods, devices and systems for generating ultrashort optical linear chirped pulses with very high power by amplifying the pulses so that their temporal duration is longer than the storage time of the amplifying medium. The additional gain factor is related to the ratio of the storage time to the stretched pulse. A preferred embodiment connects a mode locked laser source that generates optical pulses whose duration is stretched with a chirped fiber Bragg grating. Embodiments include methods, devices and systems causing an extreme chirped pulse amplifier (XCPA) effect in an oscillator.

Embodiments of the present invention are generally related to a fiber assembly, for example, in a chirped pulse amplification system, for all-fiber delivery of high energy femtosecond pulses. More specifically, embodiments of the present invention relate to a system and method for improving dispersion management when using hollow core photonic bandgap fibers for pulse compression. In one embodiment of the present invention, a fiber assembly comprises: an optical laser oscillator; a first fiber section for stretching the pulses from the laser oscillator, the first fiber section comprising a high order mode fiber; and a second fiber section for compressing the stretched pulses, connected to the first fiber section via a splice, the second fiber section comprising a hollow core photonic bandgap fiber; wherein the fiber assembly outputs a pulse compression at less than 200 fs.

An all-fiber chirped pulse amplification (CPA) system and method is provided that utilizes a hollow core photonic bandgap fiber as a pulse compressor and a dispersion compensating optical fiber as a pulse stretcher that are matched with respect to both the amount and slope of dispersion to avoid peak power-limiting pulse distortion. The CPA system includes a rare earth ion-doped optical fiber amplifier having an input and an output that amplifies optical pulses having a center wavelength of λc, a pulse compressing length L1 of hollow core photonic bandgap fiber having a dispersion value D1 and a dispersion slope S1 that varies over a wavelength λ of the pulses that is optically connected to the output of the fiber amplifier and having a k-parameter defined by a ratio of D1 over the slope of the function D1(λ) that is larger than about 50, and a pulse stretching length L2 of dispersion compensating optical fiber connected to the input of the fiber amplifier having a dispersion value D2 and dispersion slope S2. The lengths are selected such that L1D1=−L2D2, and the center wavelength λc of the inputted optical pulses is preferably close to the center wavelength of the bandgap of the photonic bandgap fiber.

Variations of composite volume Bragg grating devices and methods for creating same are disclosed. Also, variations of chirped pulse amplification laser systems, and system portions, that make use of a composite volume Bragg grating device for pulse stretching and / or compression are disclosed.

The present invention generally concerns the use of Bragg optical fibers in chirped pulse amplification systems for the production of high-pulse-energy ultrashort optical pulses. A gas-core Bragg optical fiber waveguide can be advantageously used in such systems to stretch the duration of pulses so that they can be amplified, and / or Bragg fibers can be used to compress optical signals into much shorter duration pulses after they have been amplified. Bragg fibers can also function as near-zero-dispersion delay lines in amplifier sections.

Methods and systems for optical chirped pulse amplification and phase dispersion, the system including an active dispersion controller for receiving an input optical pulse from a modelocked laser and controlling a third and fourth order dispersion property of the input optical pulse to produce an optical output pulses, a stretching re-circulating loop for stretching the optical output pulses in time, an optical amplifier for amplifying the stretched optical output pulses, a compressing re-circulating loop for compressing the amplified stretched optical output pulse to produce a compressed optical output pulse, and a feedback loop for feeding a feedback optical signal to the active dispersion controller.

A chirped pulse amplification laser system. The system generally comprises a laser source, a pulse modification apparatus including first and second pulse modification elements separated by a separation distance, a positioning element, a measurement device, and a feedback controller. The laser source is operable to generate a laser pulse and the pulse modification apparatus operable to modify at least a portion of the laser pulse. The positioning element is operable to reposition at least a portion of the pulse modification apparatus to vary the separation distance. The measurement device is operable to measure the carrier envelope phase of the generated laser pulse and the feedback controller is operable to control the positioning element based on the measured carrier envelope phase to vary the separation distance of the pulse modification elements and control the carrier envelope phase of laser pulses generated by the laser source.

The present invention relates to a chirp pulse amplifying spectrum shaping dielectric film structure reflector, which comprises a transparent substrate, a high reflectance film system, an anaglyph structure and an external protective layer. Wherein, the high reflectance film system is composed of a plurality of staggered dielectric films. A high reflectance film layer and a lower reflectance film layer of the high reflectance film closely contact the anaglyph structure. The anaglyph structure can take a plurality of shapes, such as a micro-lens high transparency film system structure, an air dielectric structure, a glass anaglyph structure or other transparent dielectric structures, including semiconductor structures. As a high-power laser chirp pulse with a plane wave structure vertically casts onto the reflector, the laser passes through the high reflectance film system and the anaglyph structure and all residual lasers are reflected to back of the reflector through the transparent substrate. Reflex intensity distribution is modulated to a needed spectrum distribution structure. The reflector of the present invention can be inserted into any place of an amplifier link and improve capacity to distinguish shaping spectrum chromatic dispersion to a certain level. Scope modulation exceeds 60% without changing phase position, thus adapting to PW devices.

A grating pulse compressor configuration is introduced for increasing the optical dispersion for a given footprint and to make practical the application for chirped pulse amplification (CPA) to quasi-narrow bandwidth materials, such as Nd:YAG. The grating configurations often use cascaded pairs of gratings to increase angular dispersion an order of magnitude or more. Increased angular dispersion allows for decreased grating separation and a smaller compressor footprint.

The invention belongs to the technical field of laser, in particular to a device for generating high signal-to-noise ratio optical pulse. The device mainly consists of a multi-level chirped pulse amplification part and a pulse frequency-doubling purification part, wherein each level of chirped pulse amplification system respectively operates in different wavelengths (namely fundamental wave and harmonic wave); and non-linear purification of the pulse and conversion matching of the wavelengths can be realized through the frequency-doubling process between the fundamental wave and the harmonic wave, so as to obtain the high signal-to-noise ratio pulse. The device has the advantages of strong pulse purification ability, high overall efficiency and favorable expansibility performance towards a heavy calibre high energy state, and can be used for constructing laser systems of the petawatt magnitude.

An extreme ultraviolet / soft x-ray laser driven by a compact solid-state chirped pulse amplification laser system entirely pumped by laser diodes is described. The solid-state pump laser generates compressed pulses of sub-10 ps duration with energy greater than 1 J at a chosen repetition rate in a cryogenically cooled Yb:YAG system. Lasing in the 18.9 nm line of Ni-like Mo was observed. The diode-pumped laser has the potential to greatly increase the repetition rate and average power of lasers having a variety of EUV / SXR wavelengths on a significantly smaller footprint.

A fiber Chirped Pulse Amplification (CPA) laser system includes a fiber mode-locking oscillator for generating a laser and stretching into a few hundreds ps-10 ns pulse by a fiber stretcher for projecting into an acoustic-optic (AO) functioning as a pulse picker for generated a modulated laser with a reduced repetition rate for projecting to a multiple stage amplifier. The multiple stage amplifier further includes a first high-energy amplifier implemented with a large mode area (LMA) fiber for amplifying the modulated laser up to a uJ level laser and a second amplifier implemented with a PCF based Yb doped fiber to further amplify the uJ level laser to a mJ level laser.