Generating High-Power Bragg Pulses for Atom Interferometry

Achieving lower systematic errors in atom interferometry calls for greater optical power. To this end, we are building a high-power quasi CW laser system, generating 150-$\mu$s pulses with a 100-Hz repetition rate of light near the 852 nm D2 line of Cesium by amplifying a 500-mW Nd:YAG CW seed to produce up to 10 kW peak power at 1064 nm in 1 J pulses. This is converted to several kW of peak power at 532 nm using second harmonic generation in LBO. We will use this to pump optical parametric amplification in periodically poled SLT, seeded by spectroscopically stabilized 852 nm light. This system is designed to deliver more than 1 kW peak power and should allow us to realize higher-order Bragg diffraction in our atomic fountain, a major step towards a higher precision measurement of the fine structure constant.