We report on the successful commissioning of DiPOLE-100Hz, a DPSSL amplifying nanosecond pulses to 10 J energy at 100 Hz repetition rate. As part of initial commissioning experiments, the system was configured to amplify 15 ns pulses at 100 Hz pulse rate to an energy of 7 J. The system was operated at this level for four hours (corresponding to 1.44·106 shots) with an energy stability of 1% rms. Subsequently, the laser demonstrated amplification of 15 ns pulses to the full specification of 10 J, 100 Hz, corresponding to 1 kW average power, with an optical-to-optical efficiency of 25.4% and long-term energy stability of less than 1% rms measured over one hour. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time long-term, reliable operation of a kW-class high energy nanosecond pulsed DPSSL at 100 Hz has been demonstrated.
High-energy, diode-pumped, solid-state laser technology, such as DiPOLE, is key for a wide range of applications including the realisation of petawatt-class chirped pulse amplification systems operating at an unprecedented 10Hz repetition rate. In particular, optimisation of the non-linear frequency conversion process from 1030nm to 515nm is required for pumping titanium sapphire, a common gain material. This process is polarisation-sensitive and suffers from losses due to depolarisation, an effect that causes the polarisation state of the beam to vary across the beam aperture. A summary of the methods used for measuring and controlling polarisation in DiPOLE systems will be presented.
Laser amplifiers producing high energy (multi-J) nanosecond pulses at high repetition rate (multi-Hz) are required for a wide range of commercial and scientific applications. The DiPOLE concept, developed at the STFC Central Laser Facility (UK), consists in scalable, high-energy DPSSL amplifiers based on cryogenically-cooled, multi-slab ceramic Yb:YAG. In this work we discuss the most recent developments aimed at scaling the pulse repetition of new generation DiPOLE lasers from 10 Hz to 100 Hz. We present the design and current status of a 10 J, 100 Hz DiPOLE laser. We will discuss thermal management approaches adopted for this system.
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