Ultrafast, ultrahigh-peak, and high-average power Ti:sapphire laser system and its applications

We review progress in the generation of multiterawatt optical pulses in the 10-fs range. We describe a design, performance, and characterization of a Ti:sapphire laser system based on chirped-pulse amplification, which has produced a peak power in excess of 100 TW with sub-20-fs pulse durations and an average power of 19 W at a 10-Hz repetition rate. We also discuss extension of this system to the petawatt power level and potential applications in the relativistic, ultrahigh intensity regimes.