High-average-power 2 μm few-cycle optical parametric chirped pulse amplifier at 100 kHz repetition rate

Sources of long wavelengths few-cycle high repetition rate pulses are becoming increasingly important for a plethora of applications, e.g., in high-field physics. Here, we report on the realization of a tunable optical parametric chirped pulse amplifier at 100 kHz repetition rate. At a central wavelength of 2 mu m, the system delivered 33 fs pulses and a 6 W average power corresponding to 60 mu J pulse energy with gigawatt-level peak powers. Idler absorption and its crystal heating is experimentally investigated for a BBO. Strategies for further power scaling to several tens of watts of average power are discussed. (C) 2015 Optical Society of America