Recently several ultrahigh intensity Chirped Pulse Amplification (CPA) laser systems have reached petawatt output powers [1, 2] setting the next milestone at tens or even hundreds petawatts for the next three to ten years [3, 4]. These remarkable results were reached when laser amplifiers (opposite to Optical Parametric Amplification (OPA) [5]) were used as final ones and from them Ti:Sapphire crystals supposed to be the working horses as well in the future design of these laser systems. Nevertheless, the main limitation that arises on the path toward ultrahigh output power and intensity is the restriction on the pumping and extraction energy imposed by Transverse Amplified Spontaneous Emission (TASE) [6] and/or transverse parasitic generation (TPG) [7] within the large aperture of the disc-shape amplifier volume.

Date Published: 1 May 2015
PDF: 9 pages
Proc. SPIE 9515, Research Using Extreme Light: Entering New Frontiers with Petawatt-Class Lasers II, 95150J (1 May 2015); doi: 10.1117/12.2182319

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 9515:
Research Using Extreme Light: Entering New Frontiers with Petawatt-Class Lasers II
Georg Korn; Luis O. Silva, Editor(s)