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Title: Direct optical measurement of the on-shot incoherent focal spot and intensity contrast on the OMEGA EP laser

Abstract

Characterizing the prepulse temporal contrast of optical pulses is required to understand their interaction with matter. Light with relatively low intensity can interact with the target before the main high-intensity pulse. Estimating the intensity contrast, instead of the spatially averaged power contrast, is important to understand intensity-dependent laser–matter interactions. A direct optical approach to determining the on-shot intensity of the incoherent pedestal on an aberrated high-intensity laser system is presented. The spatially resolved focal spot of the incoherent pedestal preceding the main coherent pulse and the intensity contrast are calculated using experimental data. Furthermore, this technique is experimentally validated on one of the chirped pulse amplification beamlines of the OMEGA EP Laser System. The intensity contrast of a 1-kJ, 10-ps laser pulse is shown to be ~10× higher than the power contrast because of the larger spatial extent of the incoherent focal spot relative to the coherent focal spot.

Authors:
 [1];  [1];  [1]
  1. Univ. of Rochester, Rochester, NY (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Univ. of Rochester, NY (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE
OSTI Identifier:
1255540
Grant/Contract Number:  
NA0001944
Resource Type:
Journal Article: Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Applied Physics. B, Lasers and Optics
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 122; Journal Issue: 6; Journal ID: ISSN 0946-2171
Publisher:
Springer
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION

Citation Formats

Dorrer, C., Consentino, A., and Irwin, D. Direct optical measurement of the on-shot incoherent focal spot and intensity contrast on the OMEGA EP laser. United States: N. p., 2016. Web. doi:10.1007/s00340-016-6431-y.
Dorrer, C., Consentino, A., & Irwin, D. Direct optical measurement of the on-shot incoherent focal spot and intensity contrast on the OMEGA EP laser. United States. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00340-016-6431-y
Dorrer, C., Consentino, A., and Irwin, D. 2016. "Direct optical measurement of the on-shot incoherent focal spot and intensity contrast on the OMEGA EP laser". United States. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00340-016-6431-y. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1255540.
@article{osti_1255540,
title = {Direct optical measurement of the on-shot incoherent focal spot and intensity contrast on the OMEGA EP laser},
author = {Dorrer, C. and Consentino, A. and Irwin, D.},
abstractNote = {Characterizing the prepulse temporal contrast of optical pulses is required to understand their interaction with matter. Light with relatively low intensity can interact with the target before the main high-intensity pulse. Estimating the intensity contrast, instead of the spatially averaged power contrast, is important to understand intensity-dependent laser–matter interactions. A direct optical approach to determining the on-shot intensity of the incoherent pedestal on an aberrated high-intensity laser system is presented. The spatially resolved focal spot of the incoherent pedestal preceding the main coherent pulse and the intensity contrast are calculated using experimental data. Furthermore, this technique is experimentally validated on one of the chirped pulse amplification beamlines of the OMEGA EP Laser System. The intensity contrast of a 1-kJ, 10-ps laser pulse is shown to be ~10× higher than the power contrast because of the larger spatial extent of the incoherent focal spot relative to the coherent focal spot.},
doi = {10.1007/s00340-016-6431-y},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1255540}, journal = {Applied Physics. B, Lasers and Optics},
issn = {0946-2171},
number = 6,
volume = 122,
place = {United States},
year = {Wed May 18 00:00:00 EDT 2016},
month = {Wed May 18 00:00:00 EDT 2016}
}

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Works referencing / citing this record:

Investigation of laser pulse length and pre-plasma scale length impact on hot electron generation on OMEGA-EP
journal, February 2017


Proton beam emittance growth in multipicosecond laser-solid interactions
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