1 kW, 10 mJ, 120 fs coherently combined fiber CPA laser system

An ultrafast fiber chirped-pulse amplification laser system based on a coherent combination of 16 ytterbium-doped rod-type amplifiers is presented. It generates 10 mJ pulse energy at 1 kW average power and 120 fs pulse duration. A partially helium-protected, two-staged chirped-pulse amplification grating compressor is implemented to maintain the close to diffraction-limited beam quality by avoiding nonlinear absorption in air.