The high repetition frequency advanced petawatt laser developed by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory for the European Extreme Light Infrastructure Beam Project has set a world record for a diode-pumped petawatt class (10 to 15 power watt) laser pointer system. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory stated that this breakthrough means that the laser system can be used for the delivery and integration of the EU’s extreme light infrastructure beam project in Prague, Czech Republic.
Related personnel describe one of the characteristics of the HAPLS system as the “L3” beam. This beam is the “main force” beam of the new device, with the characteristics of ultra-short light pulses with high energy and high repetition frequency, which can provide powerful conditions for scientists to successfully carry out cutting-edge experiments. 3. The HAPLS system with a frequency of 3 Hz can transmit 16 joules per 28 femtosecond laser pulse-that is, each pulse generates about 0.5 megawatts of energy. The director said in a report from a US equipment giant including the National Ignition Device: “Twenty years ago, he led the development of the world’s first petawatt laser NOVA solid-state laser. This is a huge breakthrough in peak power. Today, it has ushered in a new era of petawatt lasers, capable of achieving unprecedented performance requirements.”
The team once announced at the Western Optoelectronics Exhibition in the United States to cooperate with an Austrian company to develop the HAPLS system and develop a petawatt pulse laser with a repetitive frequency of up to 10 Hz. Only three years later, the team obtained the latest technological achievements. The company was subsequently acquired by the laser brand Spectrophysics and is now a subsidiary company of Instruments. The plan to ship the system to Prague has been implemented since 2016. The Czech base encountered a floor vibration problem on the way, so the progress was delayed later. Relevant personnel responded at the recent Photonics Show in Western America.
In addition, he added: “In just three years, the entire process from concept to complete integration and even a record-breaking product has been completed. The innovative technology of the US Department of Energy’s fusion laser research and development represents a new generation of applications. The program supports a characteristic diode pumped, high energy, high peak power laser system.”
The project director of advanced photonics technology introduced the specific details of the progress at the 2017 Western Photonics Conference: “The high-frequency characteristic of the system is an important turning point in this field, and the system is the first real application program to set the frequency. Watt-level laser.” The key component that determines its performance is a set of high-power green laser pointer diode arrays, provided by the diode manufacturer company. The person in charge of the beam project added,
The research and development of the system has achieved “all things simple”. “According to the design requirements, no one else can achieve the delivery of the system with a limited budget in such a short time. The cooperation with the well-equipped Livermore laboratory has benefited us a lot, and it is also a future for both parties. Continued cooperation has laid the foundation.”
Throughout the development of the laser system, the scientists and engineers of the beam project have always maintained close cooperation. One of the real successes of the efforts was that the client was completely involved in the debugging and operation of the laser system from the very beginning. This provides conditions for practical training and the introduction of professional knowledge and effectively ensures the operational success of the laser integration process. The system is currently being transferred to the ELI beam project base, after which it will be integrated into the laser transmission and control system to generate laser pulses with a peak power of more than 1 petawatt at 10 Hz repetition.