Bandwidth expansion and pulse shape optimized for 10 PW laser design via spectral shaping

We demonstrated a scheme of bandwidth expansion and pulse shape optimized to afford 10 PW laser design via spec-tral shaping,which uses the existing Nd:glass amplifier chain of the SG PW laser.Compared to the amplified pulse with a gain-narrowing effect,the required parameters of injected pulse energy,spectral bandwidth,and shape are analyzed,to-gether with their influence on the system B-integral,energy output capability,and temporal intensity contrast.A bandwidth expansion to 7 nm by using LiNbO_(3) birefringent spectral shaping resulted in an output energy of 2 kJ in a proof-of-principle experiment.The results are consistent with the theoretical prediction which suggests that the amplifier chain of SG PW laser is capable of achieving 6 kJ at the bandwidth of 7 nm and the B-integral<π.This will support a 10 PW laser with a compressed pulse energy of 4.8 kJ(efficiency=80%)at 480 fs.

Theory of small-scale self-focusing of spatially partially coherent beams and its implications for high-power laser systems

Based on the paraxial wave equation,this study extends the theory of small-scale self-focusing(SSSF)from coherent beams to spatially partially coherent beams(PCBs)and derives a general theoretical equation that reveals the underlying physics of the reduction in the B-integral of spatially PCBs.From the analysis of the simulations,the formula for the modulational instability(MI)gain coefficient of the SSSF of spatially PCBs is obtained by introducing a decrease factor into the formula of the MI gain coefficient of the SSSF of coherent beams.This decrease can be equated to a drop in the injected light intensity or an increase in the critical power.According to this formula,the reference value of the spatial coherence of spatially PCBs is given,offering guidance to overcome the output power limitation of the high-power laser driver due to SSSF.

Suppressing small-scale self-focusing of high-power femtosecond pulses

It was shown experimentally that for a 65-fs 17-J pulse,the effect of filamentation instability,also known as small-scale self-focusing,is much weaker than that predicted by stationary and nonstationary theoretical models for high B-integral values.Although this discrepancy has been left unexplained at the moment,in practice no signs of filamentation may allow a breakthrough in nonlinear pulse post-compression at high laser energy.

Model of small-scale self-focusing and spatial noise in high power laser driver

A linearization model was used to analyze the laser beam propagation in a high power laser driver and the influence of the small-scale self-focusing and spatial phase noise on beam quality in disk amplifiers. The quantitative relations between intensities of spatial phase noise, B-integral, and beam intensity contrast in near field are given explicitly. A spectrum specification of phase noise has been obtained by setting a limit to the contrast of an output beam.