The STRC is a chirped-pulse stretcher/compressor setup optimized for amplification of ultrashort 20-30 fs pulses to the millijoule/ kHz level using multi-pass amplifiers. To our knowledge, no other company sells a stretcher/compressor system as a “stand alone” product.

Included in the price of the STRC is assistance in optimization of the setup for the particular amplification setup in which it is used. Customer-supplied data on the optical setup and material dispersion can be incorporated into computer modeling (for example see S. Backus et al, Rev. Sci. Instr. 69, p. 1207 (1998)) to determine the optimum optical configuration to minimize second- and third- order dispersion of the overall setup. This data provides a starting point for system optimization using FROG characterization of the amplifier pulse output (or auto correlation characterization for less-demanding applications).