Performance of the beamlet laser, a testbed for the National Ignition Facility

Conference · Mon Jun 19 00:00:00 EDT 1995

OSTI ID:97196

van Wonterghem, B M; Caird, J A; Barker, C E; Campbell, J H; Murray, J R; Speck, D R

We present initial performance studies for Beamlet, a single-beam prototype for megajoule-class neodymium-glass laser fusion drivers using a multipass main amplifier, adaptive optics, and efficient, high-fluence conversion to the third harmonic. The Beamlet final amplifier uses Brewsters-angle glass slabs with a square 39 {times} 39 cm{sup 2} aperture and a full-aperture plasma-electrode Pockels cell switch. The laser has been tested at the fundamental wavelength over a range of pulselengths from 1-10 ns up to energies of 5.8 kJ at 10 ns and 17.3 kJ at 10 ns at a beam area of 35 {times} 35 cm{sup 2}. A 39-actuator deformable mirror system corrects the beam to a Strehl ratio of 0.4.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Livermore National Lab., CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE, Washington, DC (United States)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-48
• OSTI ID: 97196
• Report Number(s): UCRL-JC--121272; CONF-9506130--1; ON: DE95015904
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY
BEAM OPTICS
BEAM TRANSPORT
DEFORMATION
GAIN
INERTIAL CONFINEMENT
NEODYMIUM LASERS
OPTICAL SYSTEMS
PERFORMANCE