title: High temporal and spatial quality petawatt-class Ti:sapphire chirped-pulse amplification laser system.
abstract: Optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification (OPCPA) operation with low gain by seeding with high-energy, clean pulses is shown to significantly improve the contrast to better than 10(-10) to 10(-11) in a high-intensity Ti:sapphire laser system that is based on chirped-pulse amplification. In addition to the high-contrast broadband, high-energy output from the final amplifier is achieved with a flat-topped spatial profile of filling factor near 77%. This is the result of pump beam spatial profile homogenization with diffractive optical elements. Final pulse energies exceed 30 J, indicating capability for reaching peak powers in excess of 500 TW.
authors.affiliation: Kansai Photon Science Institute and Photo-Medical Research Center, Japan Atomic Energy Agency,8-1-7 Umemidai, Kizugawa-city, Kyoto 619-0215, Japan. kiriyama.hiromitsu@jaea.go.jp
authors.forename: Hiromitsu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kiriyama
authors.forename: Michiaki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mori
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nakai
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Shimomura
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sasao
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tanoue
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kanazawa
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wakai
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Sasao
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Okada
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Daito
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kondo
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kondo
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sugiyama
authors.forename: P R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Bolton
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Yokoyama
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Daido
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kawanishi
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kimura
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tajima
mesh_terms: D000537:Aluminum Oxide; D007834:Lasers; D013997:Time Factors; D014025:Titanium
chemical_list: D014025:Titanium; D000537:Aluminum Oxide