M.H. Key

A study of ablation by laser irradiation of plane targets at wavelengths 1.05, 0.53, and 0.35 μm

Ablation by laser irradiation at wavelengths λ=1.05, 0.53, and 0.35 μm has been studied from analysis of time‐resolved x‐ray spectra of layered targets and of ion emission. Irradiance was varied in the range 2×1013 to 2×1015 W cm−2 with constant laser power and variable focal spot size. Deductions include the effect of lateral energy transport from small focal spots and ablation rates and ablation pressures obtained both in the limit of negligible transport and when lateral transport is significant. Advantages of short wavelengths for ablatively driven implosions are quantified.

High contrast multi-terawatt pulse generation using chirped pulse amplification on the VULCAN laser facility

High power (8 TW), ultra-short (2.4 ps), pulses have been generated using chirped pulse amplification techniques on the VULCAN Nd: glass laser. A novel oscillator was developed as a driver producing ≈ ps pulses at 105 nm. The oscillator output was stretched prior to amplification and compressed at an aperture of 150 mm. The contrast ratio obtained was ≈ 106, which is suitable for laser plasma interaction studies.

THE VARIATION OF MASS ABLATION RATE WITH LASER WAVELENGTH AND TARGET GEOMETRY

Abstract Measurements of laser-driven mass ablation rates are presented for wavelengths of 1.05 μm, 0.53 μm and 0.35 μm. For spherical and plane targets the mass ablation rates scale as I 0.7 and I 0.3 respectively. The difference is attributed to lateral energy loss on plane targets. Values of ablation pressure are derived.

Well characterized 1019W cm2 operation of VULCAN—an ultra-high power Nd:glass laser

Abstract Peak intensities of 1019 W cm2 have been reliably obtained from a high power Nd:glass laser using chirped pulse amplification. An Additive Pulse Modelocked oscillator incorporating diode pumped Nd:LMA was used to generate the sub-picosecond pulse. The focal spot intensity distribution has been characterized in detail showing a three times diffraction limited beam.

Characterisation of soft X-ray amplification observed in Ne-like germanium

Abstract Soft X-ray amplification has been observed on five 3p → 3s transitions of Ne-like germanium at 19.6, 23,2, 23.6, 24.7 and 28.6 nm using flat, massive targets irradiated in 50 and 150 μm wide line foci up to 3.2 cm long at intensities of 0.3 → 14 × 10 13 W/cm 2 by 1.06 μm laser light in 1 ns and 0.5 ns pulses. Gain lengths up to gl ≈ 12 were measured for the J =2 → 1 transition at 23.6 nm and the temporal behaviour of four of the Ne-like germanium lasing lines has been investigated for the first time. The duration of the gain was 60 → 80% of the fwhm of the laser pulse, with the gain turning off at the trailing half-maximum of the incident laser intensity. Output powers in excess of 10 kW per line have been observed.

A high performance excimer pumped Raman laser

An electron beam pumped large aperture KrF laser operating in a short pulse multiplexed mode has been used to pump a methane Raman laser to produce a single high intensity pulse at 268 nm. With an output beam divergence of 20 μrad and final amplifier conversion efficiency of greater than 50%, intensity at the focus of an F/3 lens was greater than 1017 W/cm2. Prepulse intensity was less than 10−10 of peak intensity.

A 1 TW KrF laser using chirped pulse amplification

Abstract Chirped pulse amplification (CPA) and recompression have been used in a large aperture KrF laser system. The power focused onto target in a 300 fs pulse reached 1 TW with an irradiance of ≈ 10 19 W/cm 2 .

An injector/amplifier double target configuration for the Ne-like Ge X-ray laser scheme

Abstract The XUV lasing output from one germanium slab target has been efficiently coupled into, and further amplified in, a second plasma produced by irradiation of a similar target from the opposite direction. The operation of such a double target was shown to be strongly dependent on the distance by which the two target surfaces were displaced. The line brightness peaked for a surface displacement of ∼200 μm and it was observed that the pointing direction of one output beam could be controlled by the surface separation in an asymmetric geometry. Gain length products of ∼16 with estimated output powers close to the megawatt level were achieved on both 23.2 and 23.6 nm J =2−1 transitions for an optimised target configuration. Maximum effective coupling efficiencies of the individual outputs from double targets, comprising 2.2. and 1.4 cm length components, approached 100% for beams propagating from the shorter to the longer target.

MEASUREMENT AND DETAILED ANALYSIS OF SINGLE PASS GAIN AT 81-A IN A RECOMBINING LASER-PRODUCED FLUORINE PLASMA

Abstract XUV amplication at 81 A was observed in a freely expanding adiabatically cooled plasma produced by laser irradiation of LiF coated carbon fibre targets. Measurements included time resolved on- and off-axis spectroscopy, target length variation and the variation of the absorbed laser energy. Detailed analysis of the experimental data has been compared with numerical simulations.

Gain scaling relationships for Ne-like Ge slab targets

Abstract The gain coefficient of the strongest 3p→3s, J = 2→1 lasing transition at 23.6 nm in the Ne-like Ge collisional excitation scheme has been measured, using the fundamental wavelength from a Nd: glass laser (1.06 μm), for a range of incident intensities on massive stripe targets up to 2.2 cm in length. From a threshold incident laser intensity of ∼ 6 x 10 12 W/cm 2 , the gain coefficient rises to ∼ 4.5 cm -1 for an irradiation intensity of ∼ 2.5 x 10 13 W/cm 2 , tending towards still higher gain coefficients at higher incident intensities. For targets of maximum length, a gain-length product gL ≈ 10 was reached with a resultant output power at 23.6 nm estimated to be at the ∼ kW level. The beam divergence decreased with length to a minimum of ∼ 7 mrad but no significant trend in beam pointing with plasma length was observed. From the trend in the gain coefficient, it appears that for a fixed energy laser irradiating a ∼ 100 μm wide slab targets, an incident incident of I i ∼ 1.2 x 10 13 W/cm 2 represents an optimum working level, assuming that plasma length is not limited by refractive effects. In addition to the usual valence electron excited 3p→3s transitions, the gain coefficient for the core excited 1s 2 2s2p 6 3d→1s 2 2s2p 6 3p transition at 19.9 nm has been measured to be ∼ 1.5 cm -1 for an incident irradiance of ∼2.5 x 10 13 W/cm 2 .