Characterization of a nonlinear filter for the front-end of a high contrast double-CPA Ti:sapphire laser

A nonlinear filter using rotation of the polarization ellipse in air is investigated. Scheme to enhance the temporal contrast is developed for a double-CPA multi-terawatt Ti: sapphire laser. It supports an energy level of millijoule and has a high efficiency. The method allows suppression of the ASE pedestal, pre- and post-pulses by 3 orders of magnitude and also steepens the pulse front. For the physical interpretation of the results, numerical simulation of the filtering is performed. (C) 2004 Optical Society of America.