title: High-energy, high-average-power laser with Nd:YLF rods corrected by magnetorheological finishing.
abstract: A high-energy, high-average-power laser system, optimized to efficiently pump a high-performance optical parametric chirped-pulse amplifier at 527 nm, has been demonstrated. The crystal large-aperture ring amplifier employs two flash-lamp-pumped, 25.4-mm-diameter Nd:YLF rods. The transmitted wave front of these rods is corrected by magnetorheological finishing to achieve nearly diffraction-limited output performance with frequency-doubled pulse energies up to 1.8 J at 5 Hz.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory for Laser Energetics, University of Rochester, 250 East River Road, Rochester, New York 14623-1299, USA. vbag@lle.rochester.edu
authors.forename: Vincent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Bagnoud
authors.forename: Mark J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Guardalben
authors.forename: Jason
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Puth
authors.forename: Jonathan D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Zuegel
authors.forename: Ted
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mooney
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dumas