Stretchers and compressors for ultra-high power laser systems

This review is concerned with pulse stretchers and compressors as key components of ultra-high power laser facilities that take advantage of chirped-pulse amplification. The potentialities, characteristics, configurations and methods for the matching and alignment of these devices are examined, with particular attention to the history of the optics of ultra-short, ultra-intense pulses before and after 1985, when the chirped-pulse amplification method was proposed, which drastically changed the view of the feasibility of creating ultra-high power laser sources. The review is intended primarily for young scientists and experts who begin to address the amplification and compression of chirped pulses, experts in laser optics and all who are interested in scientific achievements in the field of ultra-high power laser systems.