Tunable short-pulse beat-wave laser source operating at 1 µm

We have demonstrated a chirped-pulse-amplification system utilizing an air-spaced etalon inside a regenerative amplifier to produce two simultaneous 2.0-ps pulses, one centered at the gain peak of Nd:phosphate glass (1052 nm) and the other centered at the gain peak of Nd:silicate (1061 nm). Autocorrelations of the resulting beat wave demonstrate a beat frequency of 2.3 THz. We achieved wavelength tunability over a 10-nm range by electronically adjusting the etalon spacing and variable pulse width by changing the etalon rotation.