PEnELOPE: a high peak-power diode-pumped laser system for laser-plasma experiments

We introduce the directly diode-pumped PEnELOPE laser-system which is designed for a pulse energy of 150 J, a repetition rate of 1Hz and a pulse duration of 120 fs. The principle setup of amplifier and stretcher-compressor system as well as the pumping, energy extraction and cooling scheme of the power amplifiers will be reported. In this paper we focus on numerical modeling as well as design studies.

[1]  Joachim Hein,et al.  Measurement of temperature-dependent absorption and emission spectra of Yb:YAG, Yb:LuAG, and Yb:CaF_2 between 20 °C and 200 °C and predictions on their influence on laser performance , 2012 .

[2]  R. Sauerbrey,et al.  Linear and non-linear Thomson-scattering x-ray sources driven by conventionally and laser plasma accelerated electrons , 2009, Optics + Optoelectronics.

[3]  Junji Kawanaka,et al.  213 W average power of 2.4 GW pulsed thermally controlled Nd:glass zigzag slab laser with a stimulated Brillouin scattering mirror. , 2008, Optics letters.

[4]  P B Phua,et al.  Multi-mJ, 200-fs, cw-pumped, cryogenically cooled, Yb,Na:CaF2 amplifier. , 2009, Optics letters.

[5]  J. Kobelke,et al.  Study of lanthanum aluminum silicate glasses for passive and active optical fibers , 2013, Photonics West - Optoelectronic Materials and Devices.

[6]  Pierre Tournois,et al.  Intracavity acousto-optic programmable gain control for ultra-wide-band regenerative amplifiers , 2006 .

[7]  E. Treacy.  Optical pulse compression with diffraction gratings , 1969 .

[8]  Junji Kawanaka,et al.  Conceptual design for sub-100 kW laser system based on total-reflection active-mirror geometry , 2011 .

[9]  Joachim Hein,et al.  Efficiency, Energy, and Power Scaling of Diode-Pumped, Short-Pulse Laser Amplifiers Using Yb-Doped Gain Media , 2010 .

[10]  Junji Kawanaka,et al.  Output characteristics of high power cryogenic Yb:YAG TRAM laser oscillator. , 2012, Optics express.

[11]  Johannes Kirchhof,et al.  Broadband, diode pumped Yb:SiO2 multicomponent glass laser. , 2012, Optics letters.

[12]  Colin N. Danson,et al.  Vulcan Petawatt—an ultra-high-intensity interaction facility , 2004 .

[13]  J. Didierjean,et al.  Thermal behaviour of ytterbium-doped fluorite crystals under high power pumping. , 2008, Optics express.

[14]  M Hanna,et al.  Diode-pumped 99 fs Yb:CaF2 oscillator. , 2009, Optics letters.

[15]  M Siebold,et al.  Optimising the efficiency of pulsed diode pumped Yb:YAG laser amplifiers for ns pulse generation. , 2011, Optics express.

[16]  Joachim Hein,et al.  POLARIS: An All Diode-Pumped Ultrahigh Peak Power Laser for High Repetition Rates , 2006 .

[17]  F. Balembois,et al.  High-power diode-pumped Yb3+:CaF2 femtosecond laser. , 2004, Optics letters.

[18]  W. Enghardt,et al.  Dose-controlled irradiation of cancer cells with laser-accelerated proton pulses , 2013 .

[19]  U Schramm,et al.  High-efficiency, room-temperature nanosecond Yb:YAG laser. , 2009, Optics express.

[20]  Doris Ehrt,et al.  Preparation, structure, and properties of Yb3+FP laser glass , 2000, SPIE Optics + Photonics.

[21]  Michael Bussmann,et al.  Traveling-wave Thomson scattering and optical undulators for high-yield EUV and X-ray sources , 2010 .

[22]  Wolfgang Enghardt,et al.  Dose-dependent biological damage of tumour cells by laser-accelerated proton beams , 2010 .

[23]  M. von Edlinger,et al.  Comparative spectroscopic and laser properties of Yb3+-doped CaF2, SrF2 and BaF2 single crystals , 2007 .

[24]  Andy J. Bayramian,et al.  The Mercury Project: A High Average Power, Gas-Cooled Laser for Inertial Fusion Energy Development , 2007 .

[25]  Klaus Ertel,et al.  High-efficiency 10 J diode pumped cryogenic gas cooled Yb:YAG multislab amplifier. , 2012, Optics letters.

[26]  Yoann Zaouter,et al.  Short-pulse and high-repetition-rate diode-pumped Yb:CaF2 regenerative amplifier. , 2010, Optics letters.

[27]  Tino Eidam,et al.  Femtosecond fiber CPA system emitting 830 W average output power. , 2010, Optics letters.

[28]  Joachim Hein,et al.  High-intensity, high-contrast laser pulses generated from the fully diode-pumped Yb:glass laser system POLARIS. , 2013, Optics letters.

[29]  Andy J. Bayramian,et al.  Comparison of Nd:phosphate glass, Yb:YAG and Yb:S-FAP laser beamlines for laser inertial fusion energy (LIFE) [Invited] , 2011 .

[30]  Todd Ditmire,et al.  Demonstration of a 1.1 petawatt laser based on a hybrid optical parametric chirped pulse amplification/mixed Nd:glass amplifier. , 2010, Applied optics.

[31]  Bernard Vincent,et al.  14 J/2 Hz Yb3+:YAG diode pumped solid state laser chain. , 2013, Optics express.

[32]  J. Hein,et al.  Diode-pumped lasers for ultra-high peak power , 2008 .

[33]  L. Frantz,et al.  Theory of Pulse Propagation in a Laser Amplifier , 1963 .

[34]  Ferenc Krausz,et al.  Terawatt diode-pumped Yb:CaF2 laser. , 2008, Optics letters.

[35]  Michael Bussmann,et al.  The scaling of proton energies in ultrashort pulse laser plasma acceleration , 2010 .