Proposed beatwave experiment at RAL with the Vulcan CPA laser |
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Authors: | Neely D. Collier J.L. Allott R. Danson C.N. Hawkes S. Najmudin Z. Kingham R.J. Krushelnick K. Dangor A.E. |
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Affiliation: | Central Laser Facility, Rutherford Appleton Lab., Chilton; |
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Abstract: | A chirped pulse amplification (CPA) laser configuration capable of driving a plasma beat wave into saturation before modulation instabilities can grow is reported. The proposal is based on generating a single sub-ps, broad bandwidth pulse (~16 nm) and stretching and filtering to select two wavelength components (separation ~7 nm). The two spectral components are temporally stretched (to >100 ps) and separated (by ~1 ns). The pulses are then amplified sequentially in a single Nd:glass chain to greater than 15 J per pulse. Using a single-pass reflective grating compressor, the pulses are compressed (from 2 to 5 ps) and automatically synchronized. The system is capable of introducing a chirp, such that the compressed pulses can compensate for relativistic detuning of the plasma wave. The optimum laser amplification and recombination configuration for generating a saturated laser-driven beatwave is presented, and options for future work are discussed |
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