Miroslav Y. Shverdin

Analysis of the scalability of diffraction-limited fiber lasers and amplifiers to high average power

We analyze the scalability of diffraction-limited fiber lasers considering thermal, non-linear, damage and pump coupling limits as well as fiber mode field diameter (MFD) restrictions. We derive new general relationships based upon practical considerations. Our analysis shows that if the fibers MFD could be increased arbitrarily, 36 kW of power could be obtained with diffraction-limited quality from a fiber laser or amplifier. This power limit is determined by thermal and non-linear limits that combine to prevent further power scaling, irrespective of increases in mode size. However, limits to the scaling of the MFD may restrict fiber lasers to lower output powers.

Isotope-specific detection of low-density materials with laser-based monoenergetic gamma-rays.

What we believe to be the first demonstration of isotope-specific detection of a low-Z and low density object shielded by a high-Z and high-density material using monoenergetic gamma rays is reported. The isotope-specific detection of LiH shielded by Pb and Al is accomplished using the nuclear resonance fluorescence line of L7i at 478 keV. Resonant photons are produced via laser-based Compton scattering. The detection techniques are general, and the confidence level obtained is shown to be superior to that yielded by conventional x-ray and gamma-ray techniques in these situations.

Chirped-pulse amplification with narrowband pulses.

We demonstrate a compact hyperdispersion stretcher and compressor pair that permit chirped-pulse amplification in Nd:YAG. We generate 750 mJ, 0.2 nm FWHM, 10 Hz pulses recompressed to an 8 ps near-transform-limited duration. The dispersion-matched pulse compressor and stretcher impart a chirp of 7300 ps/nm, in a 3 m x 1 m footprint.

Phasing beams with different dispersions and application to the petawatt-class beamline at the National Ignition Facility.

In order to achieve the highest intensities possible with the short-pulse Advanced Radiographic Capability beamline at the National Ignition Facility (NIF), it will be necessary to phase the individual ARC apertures. This is made especially challenging because the design of ARC results in two laser beams with different dispersions sharing the same NIF aperture. The extent to which two beams with different dispersions can be phased with each other has been an open question. This paper presents results of an analysis showing that the different dispersion values that will be encountered by the shared-aperture beams will not preclude the phasing of the two beams. We also highlight a situation in which dispersion mismatch will prevent good phasing between apertures, and discuss the limits to which higher-order dispersion values may differ before the beams begin to dephase.

Gamma-Ray Compton Light Source Development at LLNL

A new class of tunable, monochromatic λ-ray sources capable of operating at high peak and average brightness is currently being developed at LLNL for nuclear photo-science and applications. These novel systems are based on Compton scattering of laser photons by a high brightness relativistic electron beam produced by an rf photoinjector. A prototype, capable of producing ≫ 108 0.7 MeV photons in a single shot, with a fractional bandwidth of 1%, and a repetition rate of 10 Hz, is currently under construction at LLNL; this system will be used to perform nuclear resonance fluorescence experiments. A new symmetrized S-band rf gun, using a Mg photocathode, will produce up to 1 nC of charge in an 8 ps bunch, with a normalized emittance modeled at 0.8 mm.mrad; electrons are subsequently accelerated up to 120 MeV to interact with a 500 mJ, 10 ps, 355 nm laser pulse and generate γ-rays. The laser front end is a fiber-based system, using corrugated-fiber Bragg gratings for stretching, and drives both the frequency-quadrupled photocathode illumination laser and the Nd:YAG interaction laser. Two new technologies are used in the laser: a hyper-Michelson temporal pulse stacker capable of producing 8 ps square UV pulses, and a hyper-dispersion compressor for the interaction laser. Other key technologies, basic scaling laws, and recent experimental results will also be presented, along with an overview of future research and development directions.

High-dynamic-range, 200-ps window, single-shot cross-correlator for ultrahigh intensity laser characterization

A novel high-dynamic-range cross-correlator is presented that enables single-shot characterization of pulse contrast for ultrahigh intensity lasers in the temporal region up to 200 ps.

Performance measurements of the injection laser system configured for picosecond scale advanced radiographic capability

We have characterized the Advanced Radiographic Capability injection laser system and demonstrated that it meets performance requirements for upcoming National Ignition Facility fusion experiments. Pulse compression was achieved with a scaled down replica of the meter-scale grating ARC compressor and sub-ps pulse duration was demonstrated at the Joule-level.

High Power Picosecond Laser Pulse Recirculation

We demonstrate a nonlinear crystal-based short pulse recirculation cavity for trapping the second harmonic of an incident high-power laser pulse. This scheme aims to increase the efficiency and flux of Compton-scattering-based light sources. We demonstrate up to 40x average power enhancement of frequency-doubled submillijoule picosecond pulses, and 17x average power enhancement of 177 mJ, 10 ps, 10 Hz pulses.

Commissioning of a high-brightness photoinjector for compton scattering x-ray sources

Compton scattering of intense laser pulses with ultra- relativistic electron beams has proven to be an attractive source of high-brightness x-rays with keV to MeV energies. This type of x-ray source requires the electron beam brightness to be comparable with that used in x-ray free- electron lasers and laser and plasma based advanced accelerators. We describe the development and commissioning of a 1.6 cell RF photoinjector for use in Compton scattering experiments at LLNL. Injector development issues such as RF cavity design, beam dynamics simulations, emit- tance diagnostic development, results of sputtered magnesium photo-cathode experiments, and UV laser pulse shaping are discussed. Initial operation of the photoinjector is described.

Ultimate power limits of optical fibers

The fundamental power scaling limits for diffraction limited fiber lasers are reviewed. Relationships between the limits show there is an upper bound for single aperture power of conventional fiber lasers of 10-40 kW.