We present the design and performance of the Texas Petawatt Laser, which produces a 186 J 167 fs pulse based on the combination of optical parametric chirped pulse amplification (OPCPA) and mixed Nd:glass amplification. OPCPA provides the majority of the gain and is used to broaden and shape the seed spectrum, while amplification in Nd:glass accounts for >99% of the final pulse energy. Compression is achieved with highly efficient multilayer dielectric gratings.

The linear and second-order nonlinear optical properties of single-crystal zinc tris(thiourea) sulfate, or ZTS, are determined. The deduced nonlinear coefficients are |d(31)| = 0.31, |d(32)| = 0.35, and |d(33)| = 0.23 pm/V compared with a |d(14)| value of 0.39 pm/V for potassium dihydrogen phosphate. Because it exhibits a low angular sensitivity (deltaDeltak/deltatheta), ZTS may prove useful for type-II second-harmonic generation from 1.06 to 1.027 microm. We present the phase-matching measurement data for ZTS and compare the calculated frequency conversion efficiency for ZTS with that of several other well-characterized materials.

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We demonstrated a high-pulse energy, femtosecond-pulse source based on optical parametric chirped-pulse amplification. We successfully amplified 1-microm broadband oscillator pulses to 31 mJ and recompressed them to 310-fs pulse duration, at a 10-Hz repetition rate. The gain in our system is 6 x 10(7), achieved by the single passing of only 40 mm of gain material pumped by a commercial Q-switched Nd:YAG laser. This relatively simple system replaces a more complex Ti:sapphire regenerative-amplifier-based chirped-pulse amplification system. Numerous features in design and performance of optical parametric chirped-pulse amplifiers make them a preferred alternative to regenerative amplifiers based on Ti:sapphire in the front end of high-peak-power lasers.

We have grown LaCa(4)O (BO(3))(3) (LaCOB), an isostructural member of GdCa(4)O(BO(3))(3) (GdCOB) family and characterized its nonlinear optical properties. At 1064nm, d(eff) of 0.52+/-0.05 pm /V and an angular sensitivity of 1224+/-184(cm rad)(-1) for type I frequency doubling in LaCOB were determined relative to those of KTiOPO(4) , beta-BaB(2)O(4) , KD(2)PO(4) , LiB(3)O(5) , YCa(4)O(BO(3))(3) (YCOB), and GdCOB. The d(alphabetabeta) and d(gammabetabeta) coefficients of the nonlinear optical tensor for LaCOB, GdCOB, and YCOB were determined to be equivalent within the experimental uncertainty and have values of ?0.26+/-0.04?pm/V and ?1.69+/-0.17?pm /V , respectively. From phase-matching angle measurements at 1064 and 1047nm, we predict that LaCOB is noncritically phase matched at 1042+/-1.5 nm .