title: High efficiency, monolithic fiber chirped pulse amplification system for high energy femtosecond pulse generation.
abstract: A novel monolithic fiber-optic chirped pulse amplification (CPA) system for high energy, femtosecond pulse generation is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. By employing a high gain amplifier comprising merely 20 cm of high efficiency media (HEM) gain fiber, an optimal balance of output pulse energy, optical efficiency, and B-integral is achieved. The HEM amplifier is fabricated from erbium-doped phosphate glass fiber and yields gain of 1.443 dB/cm with slope efficiency >45%. We experimentally demonstrate near diffraction-limited beam quality and near transform-limited femtosecond pulse quality at 1.55 µm wavelength. With pulse energy >100 µJ and pulse duration of 636 fs (FWHM), the peak power is estimated to be ~160 MW. NAVAIR Public Release Distribution Statement A-"Approved for Public release; distribution is unlimited".
authors.forename: Xiang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.forename: Kyungbum
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mielke
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jennings
authors.forename: Gordon
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Masor
authors.forename: Dave
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Stohl
authors.forename: Arturo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chavez-Pirson
authors.forename: Dan T
authors.initials: DT
authors.lastname: Nguyen
authors.forename: Dan
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rhonehouse
authors.forename: Jie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zong
authors.forename: Dmitriy
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Churin
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Peyghambarian