Development of CO2 and KrF gas lasers as drivers for inertial confinement fusion

The optical system, power amplification, and capabilities of the Antares carbon dioxide laser facility are described. Although this facility provides 40 kJ of on-target energy from 24 beams in nanosecond pulses, attempts to developing a target design that leads to high gain ( 50) when illuminated by the laser's 10 micrometer radiation are unsuccessful. Experiments with short wavelength light show favorable trends in both increased coupling to target and reduced quantity of hot electrons. The attributes of a KrF laser are being studied as well as the development of a technique for angular multiplexing for pulse compression.