Amplification of picosecond pulses in F2-:LiF crystals synchronously pumped by picosecond and nanosecond laser pulses

A method for amplification of picosecond pulses in F2-:LiF crystals synchronously pumped by picosecond and nanosecond pulses is proposed and demonstrated. Due to two-stage amplification of a train of 22-ps, 1150-nm SRS pulses generated by a PbMoO4 crystal, a power gain of (2-4)× 103 is achieved and single 6-ps, 0.88-mJ pulses are obtained.