A pulse compressor for a chirped-pulse amplification system based on a frequency-doubling crystal and grating

The limited damage threshold of the last compression grating in a general compressor is still an obstruction that limits the output capability of a high-energy laser facility. We propose and theoretically study a novel pulse compressor consisting of a pair of gratings and a nonlinear crystal, which is applied to chirped-pulse amplification (CPA) or optical parametric CPA (OPCPA) systems. The obstruction in the high-energy laser facility is alleviated substantially in our proposed compressor because the nonlinear crystal with a much higher damage threshold can withstand more high energy of the chirped pulse. We prove that, by means of a pair of anti-parallel gratings and noncollinear frequency doubling, it is possible to obtain a compressed second-harmonic pulse without chirp and angular dispersion. A hypothetical example of a 1 mu m linear chirped pulse compression is discussed.