The Nike electron-beam-pumped KrF laser amplifiers

Author

Sethian, John D. ; Pawley, C.J. ; Obenschain, S.P. ; Gerber, Kent A. ; Serlin, V. ; Sullivan, Carol A. ; Lehecka, T. ; Webster, Warren D. ; McGeoch, M.W. ; Smith, Ian D. ; Corcoran, Patrick A. ; Altes, Robert G.

Author_Institution

Naval Res. Lab., Washington, DC, USA

Volume

25

Issue

2

fYear

1997

fDate

4/1/1997 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

221

Lastpage

228

Abstract

Nike is a recently completed multikilojoule krypton-fluoride (KrF) laser that has been built to study the physics of direct-drive inertial confinement fusion. The two final amplifiers of the Nike laser are both electron-beam-pumped systems. This paper describes these two amplifiers, with an emphasis on the pulsed power. The smaller of the two has a 20×20 cm aperture, and produces an output laser beam energy in excess of 100 J. This 20 cm Amplifier uses a single 12 kJ Marx generator to inject two 300 kV, 75 kA, 140 ns flat-top electron beams into opposite sides of the laser cell. The larger amplifier in Nike has a 60×60 cm aperture, and amplifies the laser beam up to 5 W. This 60 cm amplifier has two independent electron beam systems. Each system has a 170 kT Marx generator that produces a 670 kV, 540 kA, 240 ns Bat-top electron beam. Both amplifiers are complete, fully integrated into the laser, meet the Nike system requirements, and are used routinely for laser-target experiments

Keywords

electron beam pumping; excimer lasers; gas lasers; plasma production by laser; 100 J; 12 kJ; 140 ns; 170 kJ; 20 cm; 240 ns; 248 nm; 300 kV; 5 kJ; 540 kA; 60 cm; 670 kV; 75 kA; KrF; Marx generator; Nike; direct-drive inertial confinement fusion; electron-beam-pumped KrF laser amplifiers; electron-beam-pumped systems; flat-top electron beam; laser-target experiments; multikilojoule KrF laser; Apertures; Electron beams; Laser beams; Laser fusion; Laser theory; Optical amplifiers; Physics; Pulse amplifiers; Semiconductor optical amplifiers; X-ray lasers;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Plasma Science, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0093-3813

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/27.602494

Filename

602494