Microjoule-energy ultrafast optical parametric amplifiers

Microjoule-energy 100-fs pulses are able to produce diffraction-limited white-light continuum in solid materials. Using this broadband continuum as a seed permits the efficient operation of widely tunable ultrafast optical parametric amplifiers with only microjoule pump energies. We describe a β-barium-borate Type-I optical parametric amplifier pumped with 400-nm-wavelength pulses from a 200-kHz Ti:sapphire regenerative amplifier system.

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