SINGLE-GRATING LASER-PULSE STRETCHER AND COMPRESSOR

Stretching and compressing of laser pulses is demonstrated with a sing le-grating apparatus. A laser pulse of 110 fs is stretched to 250 ps a nd then recompressed to 115 fs. The apparatus exploits a two-level str ucture: one level for stretching and the other for compressing. This s ingle-grating configuration shows significant simplification in struct ure and alignment over existing multiple-grating systems. Such a stret cher-compressor is particularly suitable for use with chirped-pulse am plification in which laser wavelength tuning is desirable. Only one ro tational adjustment is required to restore the alignment of the entire stretcher and compressor when the laser wavelength is changed.