Generation of ultrabright beams in high energy Nd:glass and KrF laser systems

The development of ultrabright lasers is progressing rapidly particularly in the direction of table-top-terawatt systems operating at high pulse repetition rate with relatively low pulse energy. The highest pulse energies and highest absolute powers are being generated by the adaptation of larger-scale high energy laser systems operating in single pulse mode. The maximum focused intensity from either type of laser is determined by the beam brightness B which can be expressed in units of Watts cm where P is the power, lambda the wavelength and S the Strehl ratio, quantifying the ratio of brightness in a beam with less than diffraction limited quality to that in a diffraction limited beam

Frequency doubling of multi-terawatt picosecond pulses

International audienceThe frequency-doubling efficiency and resultant focal spot quality of a large aperture (140 × 89 mm) subpicosecond, chirped pulse amplified (CPA) 1054-nm beam for laser–matter interaction studies has been investigated using the Vulcan Nd:glass laser system (Danson et al. 1998). The effect of B-integral on the CPA beam quality was studied and is shown not to be the dominant cause of the observed frequency-doubled beam break-up. Conversion efficiency tests were carried out on small aperture KDP (type 1) crystals at a range of incident intensities up to 3 × 1011 W/cm2 giving the optimum crystal thickness for pulses in the 0.3–3 ps region. A large-aperture frequency-doubled beam was commissioned and delivered pulses of over 10 TW onto target for an electron acceleration experiment

30TW chirped pulse amplification using the VULCAN high power Nd:glass laser

1-nJ pulses from a laser diode pumped additively modelocked Nd:LMA oscillator has produced 25-J using chirped pulse amplification. The output pulse duration was 800-fs, the peak power 30W, and the focused intensity >10

STUDY OF X-RAY LASER SCHEMES USING NEW EXPERIMENTAL FACILITIES AT THE RUTHERFORD-APPLETON-LABORATORY

Un nouveau systeme a été installé au Rutherford Appleton Laboratory sur le laser a neodyme Vulcan : permettant de réaliser une tache focale allongée e t d'utiliser un spectrographe XUV avec résolution temporelle. Le systeme a été dessiné pour l'étude de differents schémas de laser X et a été utilisé pour des observations préliminaires. On a étudié particulierement le schéma de recombinaison du carbone CVI en utilisant des cibles constitués de fibres de longueur pouvant atteindre 2cm. Les mesures mettent clairement en évidence une amplification de la transition Hα du carbone CVI, à la longueur d'onde 18.2nm.New experimental facilities have recently been developed at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory for line focus irradiation using the Vulcan Neodymium glass laser installation and for time-resolved spectroscopy of VUV emission. The system is designed for study of XUV lasers and has been used in a preliminary survey of several schemes. Particular emphasis has been placed on study of the CVI recombination laser using fibre targets of up to 2cm length. Measurements show clear evidence of amplification on the 18.2nm Hα transition in CVI

Greater than 10¹⁹ Wcm^-2 irradiances for laser/plasma interaction studies

Peak irradiances in excess of 1019 Wcm-2 have been delivered to target with the VULCXN Nd:glass laser using chirped pulse amplification (CPA). Recent developments have achieved sub picosecond pulses with compressed output powers of 35 TW in a single large aperture beam, with focused intensities on target in excess of 1019 Wcm-2. <br/

35 TW pulse generation for laser-plasma interaction studies

We report the development at the VULCAN Nd:glass laser at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory of chirped pulseamplification (CPA) operation at 620 fs to give 35 TW in a single large aperture beam, with focused intensities on target in excess of 1019 Wcm-1.&amp;more...<br/