CHIRPED PULSE AMPLIFICATION AND COMPRESSION UP THE 20 TW LEVEL - REALIZATION AND APPLICATIONS

Pulses of 20 TW power have been generated at 1,064 nm using the Chirped Pulse Amplification technique coupled to a 90 mm output aperture powerful Nd: silicate glass amplification line. This system delivers 60 J in a chirped pulse of 600 ps duration with a capacity to maintain a 3.5 nm output bandwidth. These chirped pulses have been compressed to 1.2 ps with an energy of 24 J using large holographic diffraction gratings. After presenting the results we discuss the expected applications in atomic and plasma physics.