Operating characteristics of a femtosecond amplification cavity for infrared frequency combs

We develop a cavity model including transverse field variations and gain saturation to elucidate the operating characteristics of a femtosecond amplification cavity (fsAC) with an incident infrared frequency comb. After validating the model against experimental data, we explore how the fsAC operating characteristics, such as average output power and beam quality, vary with factors such as the pump beam and the output coupler reflectivity. We also examine the locking range of the fsAC and how the nonlinear Kerr effect places a limitation on the pulse duration that can be successfully amplified by the fsAC.