Grigory Luchinin

200 TW 45 fs laser based on optical parametric chirped pulse amplification

200 TW peak power has been achieved experimentally using a Cr:forsterite master oscillator at 1250 nm, a stretcher, three optical parametrical amplifiers based on KD*P (DKDP) crystals providing 14.5 J energy in the chirped pulse at 910 nm central wavelength, and a vacuum compressor. The final parametrical amplifier and the compressor are described in detail. Scaling of such architecture to multipetawatt power is discussed.

100-TW Femtosecond Laser Based on Parametric Amplification

In experiments on the parametrical amplification of femtosecond pulses in wide-aperture DKDP crystals, a power of more than 100 TW has been reached, which is much higher than the record level achieved in such lasers. The energy efficiency obtained for the parametric amplifier is equal to 27%. The energy of a 72-fs pulse is equal to 10 J.

Second-Harmonic Generation of Super Powerful Femtosecond Pulses Under Strong Influence of Cubic Nonlinearity

A theoretical model of second-harmonic generation (SHG) under strong influence of cubic nonlinearity was verified in experiment. Effective energy conversion in thin potassium dihydrogen phosphate crystals at peak intensity up to 5 TW/cm2 (B-integral equaled 6.4) was demonstrated and no crystal damage was observed. Comparative analysis of SHG of radiation at the fundamental wavelengths of 910 and 800 nm showed the major advantages of the first one. The double-pass geometry of SHG in an ultrathin crystal on a substrate is discussed in detail. Additional correction of parabolic spectral phase of the SH radiation allows pulse duration to be shortened from 20 to 9 fs for 910 nm fundamental wavelength and from 20 to 12 fs for 800 nm.

Study of the Powerful Nd:YLF Laser Amplifiers for the CTF3 Photoinjectors

A high-power neodymium-doped yttrium lithium fluoride (Nd:YLF) mode-locked 1.5-GHz laser currently used to drive the two photoinjectors of the Compact Linear Collider Test Facility project at the European Organization for Nuclear Research is described. A phenomenological characterization of the two powerful Nd:YLF amplifiers is presented and compared with the measurements. The laser system operates in a saturated steady-state mode. This mode provides good shot-to-shot stability with pulse train mean power in the 10 kW range.

Laser Driver for a Photoinjector of an Electron Linear Accelerator (February 2014)

The presented laser driver for a photoinjector of an electron linear accelerator delivers 10-ps long laser pulses with the energy of 1.85 μJ at the wavelength of 262 nm. Laser pulses irradiating with the repetition rate of 10 MHz form the rectangular 800-μ s long pulse trains with 18.5-W mean power inside them. The pulse train repetition rate is 10 Hz. Short-lived absorption centers accumulating in BBO fourth-harmonic generator crystal cause significant distortion of the pulse train envelope. The envelope remains rectangular due to precompensating of these distortions in the fiber acousto-optical modulator with fast varying transmission.

Temporal intensity contrast ratio enhancement of petawatt level laser pulses based on second harmonic generation

Theoretical investigation of second harmonic generation (SHG) of super intense femtosecond radiation demonstrated that temporal Intensity Contrast Ratio (ICR) of output radiation of petawatt level laser complexes can be significantly increased. The cubic polarization effects in the process give possibility of additional pulse compression. We present experimental results of SHG of radiation with average intensity 2TW/cm2 in 0.6mm KDP crystal. Theoretical model of linear regime of plane wave instability in mediums with quadratic and cubic nonlinearity is developed and thoroughly discussed. Analysis of small-scale self-focusing suppression methodic is presented. The influence of surface dust to spatial noises generation in SHG process is pointed out.

1 petawatt OPCPA laser in Russia: Status and expectations

In spite of the fact that the petawatt level has been attained quite a time ago [ 1 ], only a few petawatt facilities are available worldwide. One of them, a 056 PW OPCPA facility, was created at the Institute of Applied Physics in 2006 [ 2 ]. The main OPCPA merit is a possibility of power scaling. In the current work we report construction of still another Russian OPCPA-based laser complex.

JINR LHEP photoinjector prototype

A photoinjector prototype for future electron–positron colliders and free-electron lasers (FEL) is being developed at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR). A 30-keV photogun stand, transmission (backside irradiated) photocathode concept, and stand investigations of such cathodes in collaboration with Institute of Electrical Engineering (IEE SAS) (Bratislava, the Slovak Republic) are described. A progress report on creating the photoinjector at an electron energy of up to 400 keV with a unique 10-ps laser driver is given.

Synchronization of two Q-switched lasers with 150 ps jitter

Two Nd:YLF lasers with a pulse duration of about 2 ns have been synchronized. The duration and synchronization of two laser pulses are provided by two pairs of Pockels cells with synchronized voltage pulses. One of the Pockels cells in the first pair ensures Q switching, and the other cuts out a 2 ns pulse from the giant 20 ns pulse. In the second pair, one of the cells, driven by a two-step voltage pulse, forms a giant pulse synchronized with the pulse of the first laser, and the other cell cuts a short pulse out of it. The proposed scheme allows a rather simple and reliable synchronization of two Q-switched lasers with a jitter of 150 ps.

200 Terawatt femtosecond laser based on optical parametric amplification in DKDP crystal

200 TW (pulse duration 45 fs at energy 9 J) peak power has been achieved experimentally using a Cr:forsterite master oscillator at 1250 nm, a stretcher, three optical parametrical amplifiers based on KD*P (DKDP) crystals providing 14.5 J energy in the chirped pulse at 910 nm central wavelength, and a vacuum compressor. The final parametrical amplifier and the compressor are described in detail. Scaling of such architecture to multipetawatt power is discussed.