P. Jonathan Phillips

100 J-level nanosecond pulsed diode pumped solid state laser

We report on the successful demonstration of a 100 J-level, diode pumped solid state laser based on cryogenic gas cooled, multi-slab ceramic Yb:YAG amplifier technology. When operated at 175 K, the system delivered a pulse energy of 107 J at a 1 Hz repetition rate and 10 ns pulse duration, pumped by 506 J of diode energy at 940 nm, corresponding to an optical-to-optical efficiency of 21%. To the best of our knowledge, this represents the highest energy obtained from a nanosecond pulsed diode pumped solid state laser. This demonstration confirms the energy scalability of the diode pumped optical laser for experiments laser architecture.

Optimised design for a 1 kJ diode-pumped solid-state laser system

A conceptual design for a kJ-class diode-pumped solid-state laser (DPSSL) system based on cryogenic gas-cooled multislab ceramic Yb:YAG amplifier technology has been developed at the STFC as a building block towards a MJ-class source for inertial fusion energy (IFE) projects such as HiPER. In this paper, we present an overview of an amplifier design optimised for efficient generation of 1 kJ nanosecond pulses at 10 Hz repetition rate. In order to confirm the viability of this technology, a prototype version of this amplifier scaled to deliver 10 J at 10 Hz, DiPOLE, is under development at the Central Laser Facility. A progress update on the status of this system is also presented.

DiPOLE: a scalable laser architecture for pumping multi-Hz PW systems

DiPOLE is a concept for a large aperture gas-cooled cryogenic multislab DPSSL amplifier based on ceramic Yb:YAG. It is designed to amplify ns-pulses at multi-Hz repetition rates and is scalable up the kJ-level. The concept was first tested on a small scale prototype which has so far produced 7.4 J at 10 Hz, with the aim of reaching 10 J at an optical-to-optical efficiency of 25 %. The design of an additional amplifier stage producing 100 J at 10 Hz is underway. When used to pump short-pulse Ti:S or OPCPA systems, PW peak power levels can be produced at repetition rates and efficiencies that lie orders of magnitude above what is achievable today.

Scalable cryogenic gas cooled multi-slab 10 J and 100 J, 10 Hz DPSSL system

We report the demonstration of a cryogenic gas cooled multi-slab Yb:YAG laser, producing 10.8 J pulses at 10 Hz, and initial results from a scaled-up DPSSL designed to produce 100 J pulses.

Characterisation of adhesive-free bonded crystalline Yb:YAG for high energy laser applications

We report on the application of the adhesive-free bonding (AFB) technique to form Yb-doped crystalline yttrium aluminum garnet (Yb:YAG) gain media slabs. We performed experiments to characterise mechanical strength, optical quality and laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) of bonded substrates. We demonstrate that mechanical properties of bonded samples are similar to those of monolithic substrates. We show that the presence of a bonding interface does not introduce unwanted wavefront deformations and does not increase the probability of laser-induced damage onset. Results indicate that the AFB technique constitutes a viable alternative for producing large aperture gain media slabs required for high-energy laser systems.

High energy diode-pumped solid-state laser development at the Central Laser Facility

In this paper we review the development of high energy, nanosecond pulsed diode-pumped solid state lasers within the Central Laser Facility (CLF) based on cryogenic gas cooled multi-slab ceramic Yb:YAG amplifier technology. To date two 10J-scale systems, the DiPOLE prototype amplifier and an improved DIPOLE10 system, have been developed, and most recently a larger scale system, DiPOLE100, designed to produce 100 J pulses at up to 10 Hz. These systems have demonstrated amplification of 10 ns duration pulses at 1030 nm to energies in excess of 10 J at 10 Hz pulse repetition rate, and over 100 J at 1 Hz, with optical-to-optical conversion efficiencies of up to 27%. We present an overview of the cryo-amplifier concept and compare the design features of these three systems, including details of the amplifier designs, gain media, diode pump lasers and the cryogenic gas cooling systems. The most recent performance results from the three systems are presented along with future plans for high energy DPSSL development within the CLF.

Temperature dependent emission and absorption cross section of Yb 3+ doped yttrium lanthanum oxide (YLO) ceramic and its application in diode pumped amplifier

Temperature dependent absorption and emission cross-sections of 5 at% Yb(3+) doped yttrium lanthanum oxide (Yb:YLO) ceramic between 80K and 300 K are presented. In addition, we report on the first demonstration of ns pulse amplification in Yb:YLO ceramic. A pulse energy of 102 mJ was extracted from a multi-pass amplifier setup. The amplification bandwidth at room temperature confirms the potential of Yb:YLO ceramic for broad bandwidth amplification at cryogenic temperatures.

100J-level nanosecond pulsed Yb:YAG cryo-cooled DPSSL amplifier

We report on the successful demonstration of the world’s first kW average power, 100 Joule-class, high-energy, nanosecond pulsed diode-pumped solid-state laser (DPSSL), DiPOLE100. Results from the first long-term test for amplification will be presented; the system was operated for 1 hour with 10 ns duration pulses at 10 Hz pulse repetition rate and an average output energy of 105 J and RMS energy stability of approximately 1%. The laser system is based on scalable cryogenic gas-cooled multi-slab ceramic Yb:YAG amplifier technology. The DiPOLE100 system comprises three major sub-systems, a spatially and temporally shaped front end, a 10 J cryo-amplifier and a 100 J cryo-amplifier. The 10 J cryo-amplifier contain four Yb:YAG ceramic gain media slabs, which are diode pumped from both sides, while a multi-pass architecture configured for seven passes enables 10 J of energy to be extracted at 10 Hz. This seeds the 100 J cryo-amplifier, which contains six Yb:YAG ceramic gain media slabs with the multi-pass configured for four passes. Our future development plans for this architecture will be introduced including closed-loop pulse shaping, increased energy, higher repetition rates and picosecond operation. This laser architecture unlocks the potential for practical applications including new sources for industrial materials processing and high intensity laser matter studies as envisioned for ELI [1], HiLASE [2], and the European XFEL [3]. Alternatively, it can be used as a pump source for higher repetition rate PW-class amplifiers, which can themselves generate high-brightness secondary radiation and ion sources leading to new remote imaging and medical applications.

Characterization of Bivoj/DiPOLE 100: HiLASE 100-J/10-Hz diode pumped solid state laser

The HiLASE “Bivoj” laser system developed at CLF Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in collaboration with HiLASE team as DiPOLE100 was relocated to Dolni Brezany near Prague, Czechia at the end of 2015 and fully re-commissioned at the end of 2016. In 2016, the system demonstrated average output power of 1kW generating pulses of 105 J at 10 Hz repetition rate for the first time in the world. Since then the system has been subjected to several testing campaigns in order to determine some of its key characteristics. Beam quality, wavefront quality, pointing stability, energy stability and experience with long term operation of 1 kW laser are presented. In addition, depolarization effects have been detected inside the main amplifier. Details on these results along with numerical simulations are presented.

A 100 J-level nanosecond DPSSL for high energy density experiments

We present an overview of the cryo-amplifier concept and design utilized in the DiPOLE100 laser system built for use at the HiLASE Center, which has been successfully tested operating at an average power of 1kW. Following this we describe the alterations made to the design in the second generation system being constructed for high energy density (HED) experiments in the HED beamline at the European XFEL. These changes are predominantly geometric in nature, however also include improved mount design and improved control over the temporal shape of the output pulse. Finally, we comment on future plans for development of the DiPOLE laser amplifier architecture.