title: Optical parametric chirped-pulse amplifier and spatiotemporal shaping for a petawatt laser.
abstract: We present a degenerate noncollinear optical parametric chirped-pulse amplifier pumped by a high-energy, diode-pumped Nd:Glass regenerative amplifier delivering monomode pulses at 527 nm. The spatial mode shaping of the pump pulses is achieved with a diffractive laser cavity element, and temporal pulse shaping makes use of an electro-optic modulator and an arbitrary electrical waveform generator. Amplification at gain saturation achieves tailoring of the signal pulses. Numerical simulations with Miró software are presented and compared with experimental measurements.
authors.affiliation: Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique, Centre d'Etudes Scientifiques et Techniques d'Aquitaine, BP2, 33114 Le Barp, France. emmanuel.hugonnot@cea.fr
authors.forename: Emmanuel
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Hugonnot
authors.forename: Jacques
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Luce
authors.forename: Hervé
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Coïc