Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-hc48f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-28T00:34:30.951Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Development of high-performance KrF and Raman laser facilities for inertial confinement fusion and other applications

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2009

M.J. Shaw ,
B. Edwards ,
G.J. Hirst ,
C.J. Hooker ,
M.H. Key ,
A.K. Kidd ,
J.M.D. Lister ,
I.N. Ross ,
R. Bailly-Salins  and
E.C. Harvey
M.J. Shaw
Affiliation:
Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Chilton, DIDCOT, Oxfordshire OX11 0QX, UK
B. Edwards
Affiliation:
Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Chilton, DIDCOT, Oxfordshire OX11 0QX, UK
G.J. Hirst
Affiliation:
Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Chilton, DIDCOT, Oxfordshire OX11 0QX, UK
C.J. Hooker
Affiliation:
Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Chilton, DIDCOT, Oxfordshire OX11 0QX, UK
M.H. Key
Affiliation:
Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Chilton, DIDCOT, Oxfordshire OX11 0QX, UK
A.K. Kidd
Affiliation:
Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Chilton, DIDCOT, Oxfordshire OX11 0QX, UK
J.M.D. Lister
Affiliation:
Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Chilton, DIDCOT, Oxfordshire OX11 0QX, UK
I.N. Ross
Affiliation:
Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Chilton, DIDCOT, Oxfordshire OX11 0QX, UK
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This article describes the current status of the KrF development programme based on the Sprite laser system at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory. High reliability and high shot rate have been demonstrated. Using a unique KrF-pumped Raman laser architecture, beam brightness exceeding 2×1019 Wcm-2 sterad-1 giving a focussed intensity >5 ×1017 Wcm-2 has been achieved. The development of transform-limited short-pulse oscillators is shown to be of importance in avoiding spectral broadening in air propagation of high-intensity beams. Beam smoothing of KrF beams in a multiplexed configuration has been demonstrated for the first time. The technique of echelon-free induced spatial incoherence has been shown to produce smooth intensity distributions in the far field, which remain essentially unchanged on amplification. The development of pulsed-power systems capable of exciting multikilojoule laser amplifiers for the next phase of development, the Supersprite system, is briefly discussed.

Type
Research Article
Information
Laser and Particle Beams , Volume 11 , Issue 2 , June 1993 , pp. 331 - 346
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1993

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Beaud, P. et al. 1990 Optics Comm. 80, 31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Danson, C. et al. 1990 In X-Ray Lasers, Tallents, G.J., ed., Institute of Physics Conference Series 116 (Institute of Physics, Bristol, UK) p. 81.Google Scholar
Edwards, C.B. et al. 1983 In Excimer Lasers, Rhodes, C.K., Egger, H., and Pummer, H., eds. (American Institute of Physics, New York) p. 59.Google Scholar
Hooker, C.J. et al. 1991 Optics Comm. 80, 375.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kannari, F. et al. 1987 J. Appl. Phys. 61, 476.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lehmberg, R.H. & Goldhar, J. 1987 Fusion Tech. 2, 532.Google Scholar
Ramirez, R. et al. 1989 In Proceedings of the 7th IEEE Pulsed-Power Conference, Monterey, CA, Bernstein, B.H. and Shannon, J.P., eds. (IEEE, New York), pp. 26–31.Google Scholar
Ross, I.N. et al. 1987 Appl. Optics 26, 1584.Google Scholar
Ross, I.N. et al. 1990 Optic Comm. 78, 263.Google Scholar