A 1.8 mJ, picosecond Nd:YVO4 bounce amplifier pump front-end system for high-accuracy XUV-frequency comb spectroscopy

We present an 880 nm quasi-continuously pumped, grazing-incidence "bounce" amplifier system, capable of pro- ducing picosecond pulses (12-100 ps) and tailored pulse se- quences at the mJ-level. More than 1.8 mJ of pulse energy was achieved for a 58 ps pulse, using sub-100 pJ seeding energy (up to a repetition rate of 300 Hz). Owing to saturation effects, the pulse-to-pulse energy fluctuations were as low as 0.3% rms. The time delay between these pulses can be changed between 8 ns and >1 s, providing a promising pump laser system for parametric amplification and subsequent upconversion of near- infrared frequency combs to the extreme ultraviolet (XUV).