Femtosecond fiber CPA system emitting 830 W average output power

In this Letter we report on the generation of 830 W compressed average power from a femtosecond fiber chirped pulse amplification (CPA) system. In the high-power operation we achieved a compressor throughput of about 90% by using high-efficiency dielectric gratings. The output pulse duration of 640 fs at 78 MHz repetition rate results in a peak power of 12 MW. Additionally, we discuss further a scaling potential toward and beyond the kilowatt level by overcoming the current scaling limitations imposed by the transversal spatial hole burning. (C) 2010 Optical Society of America