title: Efficient high-energy femtosecond pulse compression in quadratic media with flattop beams.
abstract: Using a Gaussian-to-flattop beam reshaper and a frequency-doubling crystal, we demonstrate highly efficient and spatially uniform pulse compression of 1mJ, ~100fs pulses from a regenerative Ti:sapphire amplifier. The technique has general applicability to all-bulk self-defocusing-type cascaded-quadratic compressors, providing a way to increase peak power and intensity for a wide range of amplified femtosecond pulsed lasers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied and Engineering Physics, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA. j_moses@mit.edu
authors.forename: Jeffrey
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Moses
authors.forename: Eihab
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Alhammali
authors.forename: Jason M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Eichenholz
authors.forename: Frank W
authors.initials: FW
authors.lastname: Wise