Precompensation of gain nonuniformity in a Nd:glass amplifier using a programmable beam-shaping system

A programmable liquid crystal beam-shaping system was installed for a 200-mJ optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification (OPCPA) system front end and was applied to dramatically improve the beam uniformity in the subsequent amplifier. A highly nonuniform beam profile caused by gain inhomogeneity in the amplifier was pre-compensated by the beam shaping system using significantly improved open-loop and closed-loop algorithms. The details of the improved algorithms will be described. The issues of running a liquid crystal device with a high-energy, ultrashort-pulse laser, such as damage risk and temporal contrast degradation, will be addressed. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.