Product Code: ICAL07_M1207

High Repetition Rate Ultrashort Pulse Picosecond Laser Amplifier
Authors:
Clemens Hoenninger, Amplitude Systemes; Pessac France
Eric Mottay, Amplitude Systemes; Pessac France
Martin Delaigue, Amplitude Systemes; Pessac France
Presented at ICALEO 2007

Precision micro machining in an industrial environment demands stable and high performance short pulse laser systems. We demonstrate a laser system with >10 W average output power, pulse repetition rates between 50 and 100 kHz, and a pulse duration close to one picosecond. The compact laser system consists of a short pulse oscillator module and a regenerative amplifier module. The seed pulses of several tens of nanojoules are downcounted to the desired amplifier repetition rate and then amplified to the hundred microjoule level. We achieved an average output power of >10 W for pulse repetition rates higher than 50 kHz and an ultrashort pulse duration between 1 and 2 ps. This pulse duration is about an order of magnitude shorter than that of commonly used picosecond lasers based on Nd-doped crystals and makes the laser source extremely interesting for applications where very short picosecond pulse durations are needed, e.g. for transparent or semiconductor materials.