Simulation of an amplifier channel of a high-power picosecond laser with pulse compression

Results of a numerical simulation of the propagation of broad-band pulses w ith frequency chirp through a chain of Nd glass amplifiers, and a compresso r formed by a pair of diffraction gratings are presented. The influence of the width and the shape of the amplification profile, saturation of amplifi cation, and self-phase modulation upon the length and the contrast of a com pressed pulse is studied. A compact double-pass arrangement with spectral f iltering is proposed, which allows the effect of self-phase modulation to b e decreased.