J. B. Oliver

OMEGA EP high-energy petawatt laser: progress and prospects

OMEGA EP (extended performance) is a petawatt-class addition to the existing 30-kJ, 60-beam OMEGA Laser Facility at the University of Rochester. It will enable high-energy picosecond backlighting of high-energy-density experiments and inertial confinement fusion implosions, the investigation of advanced-ignition experiments such as fast ignition, and the exploration of high-energy-density phenomena. The OMEGA EP short-pulse beams have the flexibility to be directed to either the existing OMEGA target chamber, or the new, auxiliary OMEGA EP target chamber for independent experiments. This paper will detail progress made towards activation, which is on schedule for completion in April 2008.

Thin-film polarizers for the OMEGA EP laser system

Thin-film polarizers are essential components of large laser systems such as OMEGA EP and the NIF because of the need to switch the beam out of the primary laser cavity (in conjunction with a plasma-electrode Pockels cell) as well as providing a well-defined linear polarization for frequency conversion and protecting the system from back-reflected light. The design and fabrication of polarizers for pulse-compressed laser systems is especially challenging because of the spectral bandwidth necessary for chirped-pulse amplification. The design requirements for a polarizer on the OMEGA EP Laser System include a Tp greater than 98% over a spectral range of 1053±4 nm while maintaining a contrast ratio (Tp/Ts) of greater than 200:1 (500:1 goal) over the same range. An allowance must be made for the uniformity of the film deposition such that the specifications are met over the aperture of the component while allowing for some tolerance of angular misalignment. Production results for hafnia/silica designs will be shown, illustrating high transmission and contrast over an extended wavelength/angular range suitable for the 8 nm spectral bandwidth of OMEGA EP. Difficulties in production will also be illustrated, as well as the methods being implemented to overcome these challenges. A key challenge continues to be the fabrication of such a coating suitable for use on fused-silica substrates in a dry environment. Laser-damage thresholds for 1-ns and 10-ps pulse widths will be discussed.

Fabrication of meter-scale laser-resistant mirrors for the National Ignition Facility: a fusion laser

Large-aperture laser-resistant mirrors are required for the construction of the National Ignition Facility, a 1.8 MJ laser. In order to fabricate the 1408 mirrors, a development program was started in 1994 to improve coating quality, manufacturing rate, and lower unit cost. New technologies and metrology tools were scaled to meter size for facilitization in 1999 at Spectra-Physics and the Laboratory of Laser Energetics at the University of Rochester. Pilot production, to fabricate 5-10% of each component, commenced in 2001 and full production rates were achieved in 2002. Coating production will be completed in 2008 with the coating of 460 m2 of high-damage-threshold precision coatings on 100 tons of BK7 glass with yields exceeding 90%.

Optimization of laser-damage resistance of evaporated hafnia films at 351nm

A systematic study was undertaken to improve the laser-damage resistance of multilayer high-reflector coatings for use at 351 nm on the OMEGA EP Laser System. A series of hafnium dioxide monolayer films deposited by electron-beam evaporation with varying deposition rates and oxygen backfill pressures were studied using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), x-ray diffraction (XRD), and refractive index modeling. These exhibit microstructural changes for sufficiently slow deposition rates and high oxygen backfill pressures, resulting in an absence of crystalline inclusions and a lower refractive index. Hafnia monolayers exhibited laser-damage resistance as high as 12 J/cm2 at 351 nm with a 0.5-ns pulse. This process was utilized in the fabrication of reduced electric-field-type multilayer high-reflector coatings. Measured laser-damage thresholds as high as 16.63 J/cm2 were achieved under identical test conditions, an exceptional improvement relative to historical damage thresholds of the order of 3 to 5 J/cm2.

Plasma-ion-assisted coatings for 15 femtosecond laser systems

Large-aperture deposition of high-laser-damage-threshold, low-dispersion optical coatings for 15 femtosecond pulses have been developed using plasma-ion-assisted electron-beam evaporation. Coatings are demonstrated over 10 in. aperture substrates.

Evaluation of cleaning methods for multilayer diffraction gratings

Multilayer dielectric (MLD) diffraction gratings are an essential component for the OMEGA EP short-pulse, highenergy laser system. The MLD gratings must have both high-optical-diffraction efficiency and high laser-damage threshold to be suitable for use within the OMEGA EP Laser System. Considerable effort has been directed toward optimizing the process parameters required to fabricate gratings that can withstand the 2.6-kJ output energy delivered by each beam. In this paper, we discuss a number of conventional semiconductor chemical cleaning processes that have been investigated for grating cleaning, and present evidence of their effectiveness in the critical cleaning of MLD gratings fabricated at LLE. Diffraction efficiency and damage-threshold data were correlated with both scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and time-of-flight secondary ion-mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) to determine the best combination of cleaning process and chemistry. We found that using these cleaning processes we were able to exceed both the LLE diffraction efficiency (specification >97%) and laser-damage specifications (specification >2.7 J/cm2).

Analysis of a planetary-rotation system for evaporated optical coatings.

The impact of planetary design considerations for optical coating deposition is analyzed, including the ideal number of planets, variations in system performance, and the deviation of planet motion from the ideal. System capacity is maximized for four planets, although substrate size can significantly influence this result. Guidance is provided in the design of high-performance deposition systems based on the relative impact of different error modes. Errors in planet mounting such that the planet surface is not perpendicular to the axis of rotation are particularly problematic, suggesting planetary design modifications would be appropriate.

Nano-indentation of single-layer optical oxide thin films grown by electron-beam deposition

Mechanical characterization of optical oxide thin films is performed using nano-indentation, and the results are explained based on the deposition conditions used. These oxide films are generally deposited to have a porous microstructure that optimizes laser induced damage thresholds, but changes in deposition conditions lead to varying degrees of porosity, density, and possibly the microstructure of the thin film. This can directly explain the differences in the mechanical properties of the film studied here and those reported in literature. Of the four single-layer thin films tested, alumina was observed to demonstrate the highest values of nano-indentation hardness and elastic modulus. This is likely a result of the dense microstructure of the thin film arising from the particular deposition conditions used.

The OMEGA EP High-Energy, Short-Pulse Laser System

OMEGA EP (Extended Performance) is a petawatt-class addition to the existing 30-kJ, 60-beam OMEGA Laser Facility at the University of Rochester. Activation of the OMEGA EP Laser is complete and results will be described.

Interface absorption versus film absorption in HfO2 SiO2 thin-film pairs in the near-ultraviolet and the relation to pulsed-laser damage

Near-ultraviolet absorption in hafnium oxide and silica oxide thin-film pairs in a configuration strongly departing from the regular quarter-wave–thickness approach has been studied with the goal of separating film and interfacial contributions to absorption and pulsed laser damage. For this purpose, we manufactured a model HfO2 SiO2 thin-film coating containing seven HfO2 layers separated by narrow SiO2 layers and a single-layer HfO2 film in one coating run. The two coatings were characterized by a one-wave total optical thickness for the HfO2 material and similar E-field peak intensity inside the film. Absorption in the electron-beam–deposited films was measured using photothermal heterodyne imaging. By comparing absorption for the seven-layer and single-layer films, one can estimate the partial HfO2 SiO2 interface contribution. Relevance of obtained data to the thin-film pulsed-laser damage was verified by conducting 351-nm, nanosecond-laser–damage measurements and damage-morphology characterization using atomic force microscopy.