Highly stable, all-solid-state Nd:YLF regenerative amplifier.

A diode-pumped Nd:YLF regenerative amplifier (regen) has been developed and is in use in the 60-beam, 30-kJ UV Omega laser system's driver line. The high stability, the compactness, and the reliability of this all-solid-state modular design are the key features of this concept. Stable, millijoule-level output-pulse energies with an overall gain of 10(9) have been demonstrated. Excellent long-term output-pulse-energy stability of better than 1% rms fluctuations has been achieved with excellent beam quality (<1% ellipticity).