Controlling spatially varying dispersion in multiterawatt Ti:Sa chirped-pulse amplification lasers

Summary form only given. Pushing the peak power of Ti:sapphire laser systems toward the 100 TW levels and beyond is connected with several special technological and physical problems. The laser pulse duration after recompression is limited by both the pulse spectral width and residual phase distortions accumulated in the chirped pulse amplification system. They both can lead to the appearance of a pedestal and not-transform-limited recompression of the laser pulse over the beam aperture. The amplitude front can be bent and tilted. Such laser pulses will have a substantially broadened pulse duration for the case of sharp focusing on the target. Using the existing modifications of the stretcher-amplifier-compressor arrangement it is possible to reach a dispersion control up to the fourth and even higher orders of phase dispersion on the optical axis of the laser system.