The Shiva laser-fusion facility

Author

Speck, D. Ralph ; Bliss, Erlan S. ; Glaze, James A. ; Herris, John W. ; Holloway, Fredrick W. ; Hunt, John T. ; Johnson, Bertram C. ; Kuizenga, Dirk J. ; Ozarski, Robert G. ; Patton, Howard G. ; Rupert, Paul R. ; Suski, Gregory J. ; Swift, Charles D. ; Th

Author_Institution

University of California, Livermore, CA

Volume

17

Issue

9

fYear

1981

fDate

9/1/1981 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

1599

Lastpage

1619

Abstract

The 10 kJ Shiva laser irradiation facility is a major laser experimental facility devoted to inertial confinement fusion (ICF) research. It consists of: 1) a 20-beam Nd:glass laser amplifier system in which each beam has a final clear aperture of 20 cm diameter, 2) optical and alignment systems to focus the 20 beams simultaneously onto microscopic fusion targets, and 3) target diagnostics systems to measure the response of the targets to the irradiating beams. Since its activation in early 1978, Shiva has operated continuously, providing up to 28 terawatts (TW) of 1.064 μm optical power to targets. The evolution of Shiva into a reliable experimental facility required the development of engineering technology based on solid-state laser concepts first introduced in the 1960´s and early 1970´s.

Keywords

Laser fusion; Neodymium:glass lasers; Apertures; Inertial confinement; Laser beams; Laser fusion; Optical amplifiers; Optical microscopy; Power system reliability; Reliability engineering; Semiconductor optical amplifiers; Stimulated emission;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Quantum Electronics, IEEE Journal of

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9197

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/JQE.1981.1071352

Filename

1071352