Abstract

We demonstrate the generation of 2.3 mJ, 88 fs, 2.5 μm laser pulses at 1 kHz repetition rate from a three-stage chirped pulse amplifier employing ${\mathrm{Cr}}^{2+}\text{:}\mathrm{ZnSe}$ crystals as the active gain media. 5 μJ seed of the amplifier is obtained via intrapulse difference frequency generation in a bismuth triborate (BIBO) crystal from spectrally broadened Ti:Sapphire amplifier output. A multi-pass amplifier followed by two single-pass amplifiers pumped by $Q$-switched Ho:YAG lasers boost the pulse energy to 6.5 mJ, yielding 2.3 mJ, 88 fs pulses upon pulse compression. Our results show the highest peak power at 2.5 μm with 1 kHz repetition rate. Such a laser will be a powerful source for studying strong-field physics and extending high-harmonic generation towards the keV region.

© 2018 Optical Society of America

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