Amplification of 10 μm picosecond pulses in a compact optically pumped multiatmosphere CO2 laser Article Swipe
YOU?
·
· 2025
· Open Access
·
· DOI: https://doi.org/10.1364/oe.573338
· OA: W4413950676
Picosecond pulses, generated by a commercial mid-IR optical parametric source (∼0.5 ps, 1-5 μJ), have been regeneratively amplified to an energy of ≤2 mJ in a palm-size high-pressure CO 2 amplifier optically pumped by a Q-switched 2.8 μm Cr:Er:YSGG laser. The characteristics of the amplified pulses have been studied as a function of seed wavelength centered around 10.3 or 10.6 μm, and the pressure in the gain medium. The measured amplified pulse length is ∼5 ps. Numerical modeling suggests that pulses as short as ∼0.5 ps with multi-GW peak power can be generated in a mixture of CO 2 isotopes. Robustness of the output of a compact CO 2 regenerative amplifier to the seed and pump fluctuations measured at 3 Hz and a perfect Gaussian beam profile indicates the potential of such laser technology for producing high-power ultrashort long-wave infrared pulses at high repetition rates.