Projekte

High power ultrashort pulse lasers are often implemented in the form of regenerative amplifiers. A low-energy seed laser pulse is coupled into an amplifier cavity by means of an optical switch, in which the laser pulse experiences a certain amplification with each revolution. Once the laser pulse has reached the desired energy, it is decoupled from the cavity again by the optical switch and can then be used for its intended purpose.

The activation and controller of such amplifiers can be extremely complex. For example, the switching processes must be precisely synchronized with the laser pulses emitted by the seed laser. In addition, a number of control and stabilization functions are required for safe and stable operation, which must work hand in hand. Great flexibility with regard to the concrete system architecture is also desirable, particularly in the scientific environment.

As part of this project, a control and regulation system for regenerative ultrashort pulse laser amplifiers was developed. When developing the control platform, the focus was on the greatest possible flexibility in terms of the range of functions and later expandability. A module-based architecture was therefore chosen for the hardware, with an FPGA SoC as the central component. This approach makes it possible to equip the platform with the necessary function modules to match the respective laser systems requirements and to link them at the FPGA and software level as desired. A number of different laser systems have already been implemented on the basis of this platform and integrated into a wide variety of applications, especially in the area of fundamental research. The performance data of the systems are in the range of an output power of 200 - 1000 W at a repetition rate in the range of 1 - 400 KHz and a pulse duration around 1 ps.