Petawatt laser system

Deanna Marie Pennington; Michael D. Perry; Brent C. Stuart; Robert D. Boyd; Jerald A. Britten; Curtis G. Brown; Steve M. Herman; John L. Miller; Hoang T. Nguyen; Bruce W. Shore; Gregory L. Tietbohl; Victor P. Yanovsky

doi:10.1117/12.294337

8 December 1997 Petawatt laser system

Deanna Marie Pennington, Michael D. Perry, Brent C. Stuart, Robert D. Boyd, Jerald A. Britten, Curtis G. Brown, Steve M. Herman, John L. Miller, Hoang T. Nguyen, Bruce W. Shore, Gregory L. Tietbohl, Victor P. Yanovsky

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 3047, Solid State Lasers for Application to Inertial Confinement Fusion: Second Annual International Conference; (1997) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.294337
Event: Second International Conference on Solid State Lasers for Application to ICF, 1996, Paris, France

Abstract

We recently demonstrated the production of over a petawatt of peak power in the Nova/Petawatt Laser Facility, generating > 600 J in approximately 440 fs. The Petawatt Laser Project was initiated to develop the capability to test the fast ignitor concept for inertial confinement fusion, and to provide a unique capability in high energy density physics. The laser was designed to produce near kJ pulses with a pulse duration adjustable between 0.5 and 20 ps. At the shortest pulse lengths, this laser is expected to surpass 10²¹ W/cm² when focused later this year. Currently, this system is limited to 600 J pulses in a 46.3- cm beam. Expansion of the beam to 58 cm, with the installation of 94-cm gratings, will enable 1 kJ operation. Target experiments with petawatt pulses will be possible either integrated with Nova in the 10 beam target chamber or as a stand alone system in an independent, dedicated chamber. Focusing the beam onto a target will be accomplished using an on axis parabolic mirror. The design of a novel targeting system enabling the production of ultrahigh contrast pulses and an easily variable effective focal length is also described.

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Deanna Marie Pennington, Michael D. Perry, Brent C. Stuart, Robert D. Boyd, Jerald A. Britten, Curtis G. Brown, Steve M. Herman, John L. Miller, Hoang T. Nguyen, Bruce W. Shore, Gregory L. Tietbohl, and Victor P. Yanovsky "Petawatt laser system", Proc. SPIE 3047, Solid State Lasers for Application to Inertial Confinement Fusion: Second Annual International Conference, (8 December 1997); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.294337

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