Optimization of system design and performance to generate >10<sup>20</sup> Wcm<sup>-2</sup>

Christopher B. Edwards; L. J. Barzanti; Colin N. Danson; Michael H. Key; David Neely; Peter A. Norreys; David A. Pepler; W. T. Toner; F. N. Walsh; T. B. Winstone; Marcus Henry R. Hutchinson; Ian P. Mercer; D. C. Wilson; F. Zhou

doi:10.1117/12.206423

10 April 1995 Optimization of system design and performance to generate >10²⁰ Wcm^-2

Christopher B. Edwards, L. J. Barzanti, Colin N. Danson, Michael H. Key, David Neely, Peter A. Norreys, David A. Pepler, W. T. Toner, F. N. Walsh, T. B. Winstone, Marcus Henry R. Hutchinson, Ian P. Mercer, D. C. Wilson, F. Zhou

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 2377, Generation, Amplification, and Measurement of Ultrashort Laser Pulses II; (1995) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.206423
Event: Photonics West '95, 1995, San Jose, CA, United States

Abstract

We report focused intensities of > 10¹⁹ Wcm^-2, with subpicosecond operation of the VULCAN Nd:glass laser at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory using chirped pulse amplification (CPA) techniques. This paper describes novel aspects of the system including: picosecond and subpicosecond diode pumped oscillators; the use of a regenerative amplifier and system optimization. The ultrashort pulse generated from an additive pulse modelocked LMA oscillator was stretched from 0.5 ps to approximately 200 ps in a double pass grating system and amplified from 1 nJ to 50 J, in phosphate glass amplifiers with a final beam aperture of 150 mm diameter. The stretched pulse was recompressed using a pair of gratings (300 X 150 mm, 1740 lines per mm) and focused using an off-axis parabola to avoid nonlinear effects from transmissive optics. The compressed pulse was monitored using a suite of diagnostics to determine the focusability, pulsewidth, and spectrum. We also describe the current system development program, which is in progress and designed to achieve intensities of approximately 10²⁰ Wcm^-2 to target.

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Christopher B. Edwards, L. J. Barzanti, Colin N. Danson, Michael H. Key, David Neely, Peter A. Norreys, David A. Pepler, W. T. Toner, F. N. Walsh, T. B. Winstone, Marcus Henry R. Hutchinson, Ian P. Mercer, D. C. Wilson, and F. Zhou "Optimization of system design and performance to generate >10²⁰ Wcm^-2", Proc. SPIE 2377, Generation, Amplification, and Measurement of Ultrashort Laser Pulses II, (10 April 1995); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.206423

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KEYWORDS

Oscillators

Optical amplifiers

Picosecond phenomena

Glasses

Pulsed laser operation

Neodymium lasers

Diffraction gratings

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