Optimization of grating size in chirped-pulse-amplification laser system

We performed calculations for a chirped-pulse-amplification laser system with a sub-100-fs pulse duration including the finite size of gratings in an aberration-free stretcher/compressor design. Both the higher-order phase dispersion and the spectral clipping, which is due to the finite size of the optics in the stretcher and the compressor, are taken into account in the calculation. We discuss the influence of both phase dispersion and spectral clipping on the important parameters of the recompressed pulse, such as pulse duration, pulse contrast, and peak intensity, employing different phase-dispersion compensation methods. The calculations show that the use of a small compressor grating reduces the higher-order phase errors and smoothes the sharp spectral cut-off caused by spectral clipping in the stretcher, which consequently improves the pulse contrast ratio of the main pulse to the pedestal.