Performance And Operation Of The Upgraded Nova Laser

Over the past year, the Nova laser at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory has been undergoing major refurbishment. Concurrently, an extensive research program has been undertaken to characterize and understand, in detail, the characteristics of Nova and the factors which limit its performance. As a result of these combined efforts, Nova now exceeds its original performance goals. Among the topics discussed are the substitution of platinum free laser glass in the power amplifier section of the Nova beamlines; increased frequency conversion efficiency, and large optic damage resulting from transverse stimulated Brillouin scattering. When we have implemented the necessary changes on all 10 Nova beamlines, we will soon be able to routinely deliver 120 kilojoules of energy at 1.053 μm, and 75 kilojoules at 0.351 μm.