Chirped-Pulse Amplification

1985:

A paper published in Optics Communications by Donna Strickland and Gerard Mourou of LLE describes the chirped-pulse amplification (CPA), a technique used to amplify ultrashort laser pulses to the petawatt level. This approach, developed and demonstrated at LLE, is the basis of modern ultrahigh-power lasers.

[1] D. Strickland and G. Mourou “Compression of Amplified Chirped Optical Pulses,” Opt. Commun. 56 3219-221 (1985).