ALIGNMENT PROCEDURE FOR A DUAL GRATING PULSE COMPRESSOR

Grating pulse compressors are an integral part of chirped pulse amplif ication (CPA) lasers.(1) Accurate alignment of the compressor is requi red to obtain minimum pulsewidth at the output of the system. Dual gra ting compressors are difficult to align because they don't function un less they are close to optimum alignment, The procedure outlined here provides a simple step-wise method of aligning a dual grating pulse co mpressor so that the gratings will be parallel with one another, Once this condition has been established, only the distance between the gra tings needs to be adjusted to start the system operating. At this poin t, the compressor can be critically aligned.