Design and energy characteristics of a multisegment glass-disk amplifier

John H. Kelly; Milton J. Shoup III; Mark D. Skeldon; Snow T. Bui

doi:10.1117/12.43585

1 July 1991 Design and energy characteristics of a multisegment glass-disk amplifier

John H. Kelly, Milton J. Shoup III, Mark D. Skeldon, Snow T. Bui

Proceedings Volume 1410, Solid State Lasers II; (1991) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.43585
Event: Optics, Electro-Optics, and Laser Applications in Science and Engineering, 1991, Los Angeles, CA, United States

Abstract

Multi-segment disk amplifiers (MSA) are of particular interest in fusion laser systems because of the improved efficiency and compactness they offer compared with conventional disk amplifiers. A multisegment amplifier consists of two or more conventional disk amplifiers which share one or more common flash-lamp arrays. Each 'segment' amplifies one 'beamlet.' A 2 x 2 MSA can therefore amplify four beamlets. The shared flash-lamp arrays, lacking large reflectors, pump the disks more efficiently because of reduced lamp self-absorption. Furthermore, the reduction of reflector surface area per unit disk area reduces absorptive losses of pump light. The authors have constructed a 2 x 2 MSA with individual beamlet apertures of 24 cm. Each aperture contains five phosphate glass disks. This device is designed to be angularly double-passed by a 20-cm beam. Design details and rationale are presented. The energy transport performance of the amplifier was measured in both small- and large-signal regimes. A nominal small-signal gain of 11.8 was measured. The storage efficiency exceeded 3.5% at the nominal operating point. The amplifier was deployed as a booster for one beamline of the OMEGA laser system at the University of Rochester. In that configuration, 950 J of focusable energy was obtained from a single segment in a 800-ps pulse at 130-J drive. Details of these measurements are presented.

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John H. Kelly, Milton J. Shoup III, Mark D. Skeldon, and Snow T. Bui "Design and energy characteristics of a multisegment glass-disk amplifier", Proc. SPIE 1410, Solid State Lasers II, (1 July 1991); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.43585

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KEYWORDS

Amplifiers

Fusion energy

Lamps

Reflectors

Laser systems engineering

Glasses

Neodymium lasers

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