1-µJ, Sub-100-fs pulses from a high-repetition-rate optical parametric chirped-pulse amplifier in the mid-infrared

This work presents an optical parametric chirped-pulse amplifier (OPCPA) system delivering sub-100-fs pulses that are tunable around 3.6 mum wavelength with a pulse energy of ~1 muJ and a repetition rate of 100 kHz. The system is exclusively based on commercial diode-pumped solid-state laser and fiber laser technology for pump and seed generation. This is in contrast to more conventional schemes for femtosecond mid-infrared pulse generation employing Ti:sapphire based pump and seed sources. Ti:sapphire systems are bulkier, more expensive, and for higher pulse energies they are often limited to repetition rates around 1 kHz. To the authors´ knowledge, this system is the first OPCPA operating at such long wavelengths.