Flashlamp drive system for a high-energy 10–100 kHz pulse-burst Nd:YAG laser

Journal Article · Fri Jan 23 00:00:00 EST 2026 · Journal of Instrumentation

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-0221/21/01/C01036· OSTI ID:3014222

Den Hartog, D. J. ^[1]; Holly, D. J. ^[1]; Seyfert, C. M. ^[1]; Thomas, M. A. ^[1]; Wallace, J. P. ^[1]

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1. University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI (United States)

We present the design of the flashlamp drive system for the NG100 laser, a 1 J/pulse, 10–100 kHz, pulse-burst Nd:YAG laser system being developed for application in a Thomson scattering plasma diagnostic. This flashlamp drive system is under active development, with a prototype now being constructed. The flashlamp drive system is modular, with each module capable of driving a series pair of linear flashlamps. Each drive module contains and is controlled by a dedicated Analog Regulator Controller. Thus each module is independently operable and controllable. This modular approach imposes no intrinsic limit to the number of modules that may be applied to drive the flashlamp pairs in a laser system. Each flashlamp drive module has a switch-regulated topology. An 1800 V main capacitor bank provides 25 kJ of energy storage, while a lower voltage output capacitor bank provides filtering and the initial energy delivered to the flashlamps at the start of the drive pulse. The main bank is recharged after each flashlamp drive pulse. As energy is drawn from the output bank by the flashlamps, an IGBT switching regulator feeds current from the main bank through an inductor to replenish the output capacitor bank. The rate of replenishment is feedback-controlled to maintain a regulated supply of power to the flashlamp load, with a setpoint range of 0.07 to 1.65 MW. An Analog Regulator Controller produces two-state variable pulse width feedback switching of the regulator IGBT. The switching frequency is ≤ 20 kHz, dynamically adjusted to limit ripple of the flashlamp power to ±3% statistical standard deviation of mean. For development or troubleshooting, each module is operable independent of the laser digital control system (microcontroller and FPGA).

• Research Organization: University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Fusion Energy Sciences (FES)
• Grant/Contract Number: SC0018266
• OSTI ID: 3014222
• Journal Information: Journal of Instrumentation, Journal Name: Journal of Instrumentation Journal Issue: 01 Vol. 21; ISSN 1748-0221
• Publisher: IOP Publishing
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

Plasma diagnostics - interferometry
Pulsed power
spectroscopy and imaging