Pulse-front control of 15-TW pulses with a tilted compressor, and application to the subpicosecond traveling-wave pumping of a soft-x-ray laser

We have implemented an adjustable traveling-wave method of excitation for t he transverse pumping of laser media based on tilting one of the gratings o f the compressor of a chirped pulse amplification [Opt. Commun. 56, 219 (19 85)] (CPA) laser chain. We show that the only requirement to obtain the bes t locally compressed pulse is to slightly tilt and translate one of the gra tings from its original position. Exact and approximate expressions of thes e two motions are derived, allowing an easy reconfiguration of any CPA lase r. An experimental validation is performed with the first observation of a unidirectional soft-x-ray lasing when subpicosecond pumping pulses are used . (C) 2000 Optical Society of America [S0740-3224(00)01601-5] OCIS codes: 1 40.3460, 140.7240, 140.7090.