The required system must simultaneously satisfy the following combined set of specifications under operational laboratory conditions: • 7 mJ pulse energy at 1 kHz and approximately 35 fs; • Compatibility with a TOPAS HE OPA accepting up to 8 mJ / 35 fs input pulses; • Upgrade path using the same seed laser to support an additional >7 mJ, 1 kHz, 35 fs amplifier beamline; • Beam pointing stability better than 4 μrad rms; • Pulse energy stability better than 0.4% rms over 24 hours; • TEM00 beam quality with M² < 1.20 in both axes; • Active compressor stabilization; • Dedicated stabilization of the Ti:sapphire thermal lens; • Guaranteed stable performance over ±5 °C laboratory temperature variation; • Nanosecond pre-pulse contrast better than 2000:1; • Laser design that minimizes spectral distortion of the compressed pulse. 1 femtosecond Ti:sapphire laser system