RESUMO
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 Cr2+: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.
