Abstract Details
The Texas Petawatt Laser Facility
Author: Erhard W Gaul
Requested Type: Oral Only
Submitted: 2009-04-23 16:32:50
Co-authors: M. Martinez, T. Borger, M. Ringuette, D. Hammond, R. Escamilla, S. Marijanovic, G. Dyer, J. Blakeney, T. Ditmire
Contact Info:
University of Texas at Austin
2511 Speedway
Austin, TX 78712
USA
Abstract Text:
We recently demonstrated a 1.1 Petawatt hybrid optical parametric chirped pulse amplification (OPCPA) and mixed Nd:glass laser. The combination of both laser technologies can deliver high energies with relatively short pulse durations. We use broad bandwidth OPCPA technology to achieve high gain without significant gain narrowing and use glass amplifiers to efficiently store and extract laser energy. OPCPA offers several advantages for high power CPA laser such as high gain with broad bandwidth that can be scaled to energies without sacrificing the bandwidth required for 100 fs class pulsewidths. While we use laser glass to bring the energy to the 200 J level, the technique of mixing silicate and phosphate glass increases the overall gain bandwidth to supporting near 120 fs pulse compression. Finally, pulse compression of these high energy pulses are managed by multilayer dielectric diffraction gratings. Grating size and short pulse laser damage thresholds limit the maximum power achievable by the Texas Petawatt and systems like it around the world, while the amplifier architecture already supports multi-petawatt pulses.
The Texas Petawatt Laser Facility enables university-based high intensity laser-matter interaction and High Energy Density Physics. This represents one of the most exiting fields of study in modern physics today. Some of the proposed and ongoing experiments include the production of high fluxes of neutrons, where intense pulses create DD fusion in deuterium cluster explosion which cause unique radiation damage to materials, and laser wakefield particle acceleration. LWFA have reached the 1GeV per electron milestone with 100 TW class lasers and scaling laws suggest, that 10 GeV laser wakefield accelerated electrons will likely be produced with a 150 fs PW type system.
The Texas Petawatt laser is initially set up with a long F#=40focusing geometry. This enables long interaction regions and larger interaction volumes at intensities above 1019 W/cm2. The focusing optic is outside the target chamber in a separate chamber which is connected by a beam tube. A second target chamber with a short focal length parabola and an adaptive mirror is planned for higher intensity experiments.
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