Abstract

Recent developments of broadband solid state-lasers such as Tbsapphire (Ti:S) lasers has allowed the reliable generation of sub- 15 fs pulses.¹ The typical output pulse energy of these mode-locked lasers is of the order of a few nanojoules. A number of schemes based on the concept of chirped pulse amplification (CPA) have been published, reporting pulses with energies up to several 100 m] and durations on the order of 100 fs.² Because of the broad pulse bandwidth the CPA concepts used so far cannot be easily extended to the sub-15-fs regime. We have identified two limitations for the amplification of very short pulses, namely gain narrowing and residual high order dispersion contributions due to an imperfect matching between the stretching and compression.

© 1994 Optical Society of America