High average power 88 W OPCPA system for high-repetition-rate experiments at the LCLS x-ray free-electron laser

We present a 100 kHz, sub 20 fs optical parametric chirped-pulse amplifier (OPCPA) system delivering 88.6 W average power at a center wavelength of 800 nm. The seed pulses are derived from the pump laser via white light continuum generation and are amplified in three non collinear OPCPA stages. The final two high power stages are pumped with a 661 W Yb:YAG InnoSlab amplifier. A simple and robust design is used for the OPCPA system to avoid thermal effects and enhance long term stability, resulting in excellent beam quality and high conversion efficiency. To the best of our knowledge, this is the highest average power OPCPA system reported to date. (c) 2019 Optical Society of America