Author Affiliations
Abstract
1 GoLP/Instituto de Plasmas e Fusão Nuclear, Instituto Superior Tecnico, Universidade de Lisboa, 1049-001 Lisboa, Portugal
2 Central Laser Facility, Science and Technology Facilities Council, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Harwell Science and Innovation Campus, Didcot, UK
3 INFN-LNF, Via Enrico Fermi 54, 00044Frascati, Italy
4 School of Engineering and Physical Sciences, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, UK
A petawatt facility fully based on noncollinear optical parametric chirped pulse amplification (NOPCPA) technology, Vulcan OPPEL (Vulcan OPCPA PEtawatt Laser), is presented. This system will be coupled with the existing hybrid-CPA/OPCPA VULCAN laser system (500 J, 500 fs beamline; 250 J, ns regime beamline) based on Nd:glass amplification. Its pulse duration (20 times shorter) combined with the system design will allow the auxiliary beamline and its secondary sources to be used as probe beams for longer pulses and their interactions with targets. The newly designed system will be mainly dedicated to electron beam generation, but could also be used to perform a variety of particle acceleration and optical radiation detection experimental campaigns. In this communication, we present the entire beamline design discussing the technology choices and the design supported by extensive simulations for each system section. Finally, we present experimental results and details of our commissioned NOPCPA picosecond front end, delivering 1.5 mJ, ~180 nm (1/e2) of bandwidth compressed to sub-15 fs.
high-power laser LBO nonlinear crystal nonlinear optics ultra-broadband OPA ultrafast laser High Power Laser Science and Engineering
2020, 8(4): 04000e31
Author Affiliations
Abstract
Central Laser Facility, Science and Technology Facilities Council, RAL, Didcot, Oxfordshire OX 11 0QX, UK
In this paper we review the provision of the laser diagnostics that are installed on the Vulcan laser facility. We will present strategies for dealing with the energy of high energy systems and with ways of handling the beam sizes of the lasers. We present data captured during typical experimental campaigns to demonstrate their reliability and variation in shot to shot values.
calorimeter calorimeter high power laser high power laser laser diagnostics laser diagnostics pulse energy pulse energy High Power Laser Science and Engineering
2015, 3(3): 03000001
