Regenerative thin-disk amplifier for 300 mJ pulse energy

Abstract

A regenerative amplifier based on thin-disk technology has been upgraded and optimized. Within a CPA laser system chirped 1 ns pulses are amplified to more than 300 mJ pulse energy. In addition to the high pulse energy the amplifier shows a very good energy stability with 0.25% (rms) fluctuation as well as an excellent beam quality of M(2) = 1.04. The regenerative amplifier is equipped with an Yb:YAG thin-disk of 17 mm in diameter pumped with 1.75 kW peak power. It is operated at a repetition rate of 100 Hz. The optical-to-optical efficiency is better than 18%. The laser pulses are compressed to 1.8 ps pulse duration.