Idler pulse compression using an identical positive stretcher/compressor combination in optical-parametric chirped-pulse amplification

We have proposed and demonstrated a very simple and robust femtosecond optical-parametric chirped-pulse amplification scheme in which an even order dispersion of an idler pulse is compensated by passing through an identical positive dispersive material used for temporal stretching a signal pulse. By compressing the idler pulses having a negatively chirp in this manner, high power sub-100 fs pulses were successfully obtained with only a transparent glass block used for the stretcher and compressor. A feasible design of real world femtosecond laser systems employing this scheme is also discussed. (author)