Measurement and control of main spatio-temporal couplings in a CPA laser chain

Abstract

Abstract We report a straightforward method to control main spatio-temporal couplings in a chirped pulse amplification (CPA) laser chain system using a specially designed chromatic doublet in a divergent beam configuration. The centering of the doublet allows for the control of the spatial chirp of the CPA laser chain, while its longitudinal position in the divergent beam enables the control of the amount of longitudinal chromatism in a wide dynamic range. The performance of this technique is evaluated by measuring main spatio-temporal couplings with a simple method, based on an ultrafast pulse shaper, which allows for a selection of narrow windows of the spectrum.