Fiber chirped-pulse amplification system emitting 3.8 GW peak power

We report on the experimental demonstration of a fiber chirped-pulse amplification system capable of generating nearly transform-limited sub 500 fs pulses with 2.2 mJ pulse energy at 11 W average power. The resulting record peak power of 3.8 GW could be achieved by combining active phase shaping with an efficient reduction of the acquired nonlinear phase. Therefore, we used an Ytterbium-doped large-pitch fiber with a mode field diameter of 105 mu m as the main amplifier. (C) 2010 Optical Society of America