Introduction of chirped-pulse amplification (CPA) enabled the latest revolution in production of high peak powers from lasers through amplification of very short (femtosecond) laser pulses to pulse energies previously available only from long-pulse lasers. CPA has rapidly bridged the gap from its initial modest demonstrations to multi-terawatt and petawattscale systems in research facilities an...

We report on a Yb:YAG Innoslab laser amplifier system for generation of subpicsecond high energy pump pulses for optical parametric chirped pulse amplification (OPCPA) at high repetition rates. Pulse energies of up to 20 mJ (at 12.5 kHz) and repetition rates of up to 100 kHz were attained with pulse durations of 830 fs and average power in excess of 200 W. We further investigate the possibility...

Noise evolution in an optical parametric chirped-pulse amplifier (OPCPA) differs essentially from that of an optical parametric or a conventional laser amplifier, in that an incoherent pedestal is produced by superfluorescence that can overwhelm the signal under strong saturation. Using a model for the nonlinear dynamics consistent with quantum mechanics, we numerically study the evolution of e...

We report on ultracold atomic collision experiments utilizing frequency-chirped laser light. A rapid chirp below the atomic resonance results in adiabatic excitation to an attractive molecular potential over a wide range of internuclear separation. This leads to a transient inelastic collision rate which is large compared to that obtained with fixed-frequency excitation. The combination of high...

Of particular interest to X-ray FEL light source facilities is Enhanced Self-Amplified Spontaneous Emission (ESASE) technique. Such a technique requires an ultrafast (20-50 fs) high peak power, high repetition rate reliable laser systems working in the mid-IR range of spectrum (2μm or more). The approach of this proposed work is to design a novel Ultrafast Mid-IR Laser System based on optical p...

A lidar technique employing temporally stretched, frequency chirped pulses from a 20 MHz mode locked laser is presented. Sub-millimeter resolution at a target range of 10.1 km (in fiber) is observed. A pulse tagging scheme based on phase modulation is demonstrated for range resolved measurements. A carrier to noise ratio of 30 dB is observed at an unambiguous target distance of 30 meters in fiber.