Ultrafast thin-disk multipass amplifier with 720 mJ operating at kilohertz repetition rate for applications in atmospheric research

Clemens Herkommer (1, 2) , Peter Krötz (1) , Robert Jung (1) , Sandro Klingebiel (1) , Christoph Wandt (1) , Robert Bessing (1) , Pierre Walch (3) , Thomas Produit (4) , Knut Michel (5) , Dominik Bauer (6) , Reinhard Kienberger (2) , Thomas Metzger (1)

1 TRUMPF Scientific Lasers GmbH
2 TUM - Technische Universität Munchen - Technical University Munich - Université Technique de Munich
3 LOA - Laboratoire d'optique appliquée
4 GAP - Groupe de Physique Appliquée
5 TRUMPF Laser und Systemtechnik
6 TRUMPF Laser GmbH

We present an ultrafast thin-disk based multipass amplifier operating at a wavelength of 1030 nm, designed for atmospheric research in the framework of the Laser Lightning Rod project. The CPA system delivers a pulse energy of 720 mJ and a pulse duration of 920 fs at a repetition rate of 1 kHz. The 240 mJ seed pulses generated by a regenerative amplifier are amplified to the final energy in a multipass amplifier via four industrial thin-disk laser heads. The beam quality factor remains ∼ 2.1 at the output. First results on horizontal long-range filament generation are presented.

Mots clés: Filament; ultrafast optics; Laser femtosecond; thin-disk laser

Domaines: Optique [physics.optics]

Clemens Herkommer, Peter Krötz, Robert Jung, Sandro Klingebiel, Christoph Wandt, et al.. Ultrafast thin-disk multipass amplifier with 720 mJ operating at kilohertz repetition rate for applications in atmospheric research. Optics Express, 2020, 28 (20), pp.30164. ⟨10.1364/OE.404185⟩. ⟨hal-02960475⟩