Seeding of an eleven femtosecond optical parametric chirped pulse amplifier and its Nd/sup 3+/ picosecond pump laser from a single broadband Ti:Sapphire oscillator

We demonstrate direct simultaneous seeding of a few-cycle optical parametric chirped pulse amplifier (OPCPA) in the 700-1000-nm spectral range, and of a Nd:YLF amplifier emitting 30-ps pulses at 1053 nm by use of a chirped-mirror 6-fs Ti:sapphire oscillator. This approach of employing a single master oscillator to drive two power amplifiers simplifies the pump laser design and is applied to eliminate the timing jitter between the seed and the pump pulses in the OPCPA chain. We show that 10 mJ fundamental picosecond pump pulses with the intensity contrast in excess of 10/sup 4/ relative to the nanosecond Q-switched background can be achieved with the seed intensity available in the edge of the oscillator spectrum around 1053 nm. Cross-correlation measurements between the picosecond pump and femtosecond oscillator pulses reveal no traceable timing jitter between the OPCPA pump and seed pulses. The estimated long-term jitter of 0.3 ps is attributed to the thermal expansion of the cavity of the Nd:YLF regenerative amplifier.