High-power DPSSL for laser fusion and its application to industry

We are developing high average power diode pumped solid state laser DPSSL for laser fusion power plant, for space propulsion and for various applications in industry. The common features or requirements ofour High Average-power Laser for Nuclear-fusion Application (HALNA) are large pulse energy with relatively low repetition of few tens Hz, good beam quality oforder of diffraction limit and high efficiency more than 10%. We constructed HALNA 10 (10J X 10Hz) and tested the performance to clarify the scalability to higher power system. We have obtained in a preliminary experiment a 8.5J output energy at 0.5Hz with bean quality of2 times diffraction limited far-field pattern. We are also trying to extend the laser technology of high peak power with low repetition to that of high averge power laser with high repetition or CW operation. The progress of power laser technology is now opening new fields of applications in science and industry. The flexibility and variety ofperformance are needed.