Results Of The PALADIN Experiment

PALADIN is a single pass, free electron laser amplifier located at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. This FEL is designed to run at 10.6 μm. The 1-kA, 45-MeV electron beam is provided by the Advanced Test Accelerator. The wiggler is 25 m long with an 8 cm period. The input optical signal to the amplifier is provided by a conventional CO2 laser, which can produce a peak input power of either 18 kW or 3.6 MW. We have demonstrated 31 dB of gain with the 18-kW input and 12.9 dB of gain for the 3.6-MW input, producing over 70 MW of optical power. Using the 18-kW input, the gain saturated at about 12 m into the wiggler; with the 3.6-MW input, the gain saturated at about 8 m. Modeling results are shown.