Author :
Elsmere, S.P. ; Bett, Thomas ; Danson, Colin ; Duffield, S. ; Egan, David ; Girling, M.T. ; Harvey, Ewan ; Hillier, D.I. ; Hopps, Nicholas ; Hoarty, D. ; Hussey, D. ; Norman, Michael ; Parker, Stefan ; Treadwell, Paul ; Winter, David
Abstract :
The Orion laser facility provides a capability for performing high energy density plasma physics experiments at AWE. The laser consists of ten long pulse (nanosecond) beam lines delivering a total of 5 kJ at 351 nm with 0.1-5 ns temporally shaped pulses and two short pulse Petawatt beam lines, each producing 500 J in 0.5 ps with intensities to target > 1021 W/cm2. The short pulse beam architecture is that of an OPCPA (optical parametric chirped pulse amplifier).
Keywords :
high-speed optical techniques; optical parametric amplifiers; optical pulse shaping; AWE; OPCPA; Orion laser facility; energy 5 kJ; energy 500 J; high energy density plasma physics; nanosecond beam lines; optical parametric chirped pulse amplifier; optical pulse shaping; pulse contrast enhancement; short pulse Petawatt beam lines; wavelength 351 nm; Apertures; Frequency conversion; Laser beams; Laser theory; Measurement by laser beam; Pulse measurements;
