Femtosecond Yb:KGW MOPA driven broadband NOPA as a frontend for TW few-cycle pulse systems

White light continuum seeded noncollinear optical parametric amplifier driven by Yb:KGW master oscillator power amplifier (MOPA) system is reported. The demonstrated design provides amplification of broadband pulses at 800 nm up to 20 mu J energy at 1 kHz repetition rate and can be used as simple and reliable frontend source for systems producing high intensity few-cycle pulses. The amplified spectral bandwidth allows for <7 fs pulse durations and preliminary compression of partial spectrum yields sub-10 fs pulse. (C) 2011 Optical Society of America