title: Laser system generating 250-mJ bunches of 5-GHz repetition rate, 12-ps pulses.
abstract: We report on a high-energy solid-state laser based on a master-oscillator power-amplifier system seeded by a 5-GHz repetition-rate mode-locked oscillator, aimed at the excitation of the dynamic Casimir effect by optically modulating a microwave resonator. Solid-state amplifiers provide up to 250 mJ at 1064 nm in a 500-ns (macro-)pulse envelope containing 12-ps (micro-)pulses, with a macro/micropulse format and energy resembling that of near-infrared free-electron lasers. Efficient second-harmonic conversion allowed synchronous pumping of an optical parametric oscillator, obtaining up to 40 mJ in the range 750-850 nm.
authors.affiliation: Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare and Dipartimento di Elettronica dell'Università di Pavia, Via Ferrata 1-27100 Pavia, Italy. antonio.agnesi@unipv.it
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Agnesi
authors.forename: Caterina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Braggio
authors.forename: Luca
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Carrà
authors.forename: Federico
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pirzio
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lodo
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Messineo
authors.forename: Daniele
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Scarpa
authors.forename: Alessandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tomaselli
authors.forename: Giancarlo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Reali
authors.forename: Carla
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Vacchi
mesh_terms: D000669:Amplifiers, Electronic; D004583:Electrons; D004867:Equipment Design; D007834:Lasers; D008872:Microwaves; D055095:Optics and Photonics; D009991:Oscillometry / Q000295:instrumentation; D055672:Static Electricity