Performance optimization of an all-OPCPA multi-petawatt laser facility

Abstract In the paper, we report on the progress in enhancing the performance of a multi-petawatt optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification (OPCPA) laser facility. By optimizing the broadband phase-matching conditions to control the amplified spectra and to minimize the optical parametric phase, stability of the compressed pulse is improved. Stable and nearly Fourier-transform-limited ∼21 fs pulses are obtained from the picosecond-OPCPA frontend, despite fluctuations of the pump energy and pump-signal synchronization. The main amplifier, utilizing a two-stage OPCPA system, achieves the maximum output energy of 131.4 J, corresponding to an on-target energy of 72.3 J. A total of 15 shots, with an average on-target energy of 61 J, were successfully conducted in physics experiments.