Laser

XPP is located directly beneath a dedicated laser lab in the NEH. The optical laser system is based on a commercial system from Coherent Inc. with a Vitara oscillator combined with a Legend regenerative amplifier. The laser pulses are then sent through a custom built four pass multi-pass bow tie amplifier to deliver 800~nm pulses with an uncompressed duration of 160~ps and a pulse energy of 30~mJ at 120~Hz. The laser beam is then relay imaged from the laser hall through an evacuated beam tube to the XPP optical table in a dedicated laser enclosure. The Hutch 3 laser table contains three primary laser compressors that compress the 800~nm light from hundreds of picoseconds to tens of femtoseconds. The first compressor can feed a UV-to-IR OPA that can generate pulses of virtually any wavelength from 250~nm to the mid IR. A second compressor is used to generate white light that is used in temporal cross correlation measurements with the X-rays. A third compressor is a dual grating high power compressor that is generally used to provide the main pump beam for X-ray/optical laser experiments up to 20~mJ at 120~Hz. The laser energy input into the compressor can be controlled using a motorized waveplate and polarizer power throttle assembly. There is also a harmonics package that can make the second, third, and fourth harmonics of the 800~nm light as needed. A movable setup with an HE-TOPAS can also produce light in the mid-IR range up to 17~$\mu$m wavelength and Terahertz setup are also possible.

Optical Laser Properties