Grism-pair stretcher-compressor system for simultaneous second- and third-order dispersion compensation in chirped-pulse amplification

We present a grating pair based on Carpenter prisms whose third-order dispersion is opposite that of a traditional grating pair. A properly designed stretcher-compressor system with these gratings has the unique characteristic that it simultaneously compensates for second- and third-order dispersion as a function of grating separation, as opposed to traditional systems, which require an additional grating angle mismatch. The applicability of this design to 30-fs, millijoule-level chirped-pulse amplification is discussed. (C) 1997 Optical Society of America.