Ultra-high brightness (greater than 10(exp 21) W/sq cm) laser facility
Abstract
New short-pulse laser technology has made possible the production of extremely bright (greater than 10(exp 18) W/sq cm-sr) laser sources. The use of these new techniques on large scale Nd:Glass based laser systems would make it possible to produce 1000 TW (Petawatt) pulses. Such pulses would yield focused intensities exceeding 10(exp 21) W/sq cm corresponding to an electric field in excess of 100 e/sq a (sub 0) and an energy density equivalent to that of a 10 keV blackbody. Such a source would have important applications in x-ray laser research and lead to a fundamentally new class of experiments in atomic, nuclear, solid state, plasma and high-energy density physics. Such a facility could be constructed with existing 'chirped-pulse' technology. A one-year period of research addressing outstanding technical questions can extend the technology resulting in a more compact and cost effective design. For this reason, we are seeking a Director's Initiative grant in the amount of $590,000 for FY89 to investigate these issues. An equivalent amount in personnel and facilities would be provided by Y-Division. The study will include development of a 'chirped-pulse' front-end capable of producing laser pulses of 2 J at 1.053 micron with a 1 psec pulsewidth laser. Upon completion, this front-end will be installed on the Nova laser system in order to investigate propagation and compression issues associated with amplification of a chirped-pulse. Our goal is to demonstrate the production of 100 TW pulses using a portion of a Nova beamline.
- Publication:
-
NASA STI/Recon Technical Report N
- Pub Date:
- March 1990
- Bibcode:
- 1990STIN...9113698P
- Keywords:
-
- Brightness;
- Glass Lasers;
- Neodymium Lasers;
- Nova Laser System;
- Pulse Compression;
- Pulsed Lasers;
- X Ray Lasers;
- Bandwidth;
- Beta Particles;
- Chirp;
- Cost Effectiveness;
- Electron-Positron Pairs;
- Nuclear Fusion;
- Picosecond Pulses;
- Plasma Accelerators;
- Lasers and Masers