A 1.8 mJ, picosecond Nd:YVO4 bounce amplifier pump front-end system for high-accuracy XUV-frequency comb spectroscopy

We present an 880 nm quasi-continuously pumped, grazing-incidence bounce amplifier system, capable of producing picosecond pulses (12 - 100 ps) and tailored pulse sequences at the mJ-level. More than 1.8 mJ of pulse energy was achieved for a 58 ps pulse, using sub-100 pJ seeding energy (up to a repetition rate of 300 Hz). Owing to saturation effects, the pulse-to-pulse energy fluctuations were as low as 0.3% rms. The time delay between these pulses can be changed between 8 ns and > 1 mu s, providing a promising pump laser system for parametric amplification and subsequent upconversion of near-infrared frequency combs to the extreme ultraviolet (XUV). (C) 2012 by Astro, Ltd.