Scalable design for a high energy cryogenic gas cooled diode pumped laser amplifier

Mason, Paul; Fitton, Mike; Lintern, A.L.; Banerjee, Saumyabrata; Ertel, Klaus; Davenne, T.; Hill, John; Blake, Steve; Phillips, Jonathan; Butcher, Thomas; Smith, Joanna; Vido, Mariastefania De; Greenhalgh, R. J. S.; Hernandez‐Gomez, C.; Collier, J.

doi:10.1364/ao.54.004227

Cited by 47 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Their low (Hz) repetition rate, large installation footprint and cost of electrical and manpower to run and maintain them thus limits them mostly to nationally managed laboratories at present. Yet, with the recent development of diode-pumped high energy systems [10], capable of many Hz repetition rate and significant light generation efficiency, the reality of high-power laser-driven radiation sources available outside of national laboratory infrastructure is fast approaching.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Laser-driven x-ray and neutron source development for industrial applications of plasma accelerators

Brenner

Mirfayzi

Rusby

et al. 2015

Plasma Phys. Control. Fusion

109

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Pulsed beams of energetic x-rays and neutrons from intense laser interactions with solid foils are promising for applications where bright, small emission area sources, capable of multi-modal delivery are ideal. Possible end users of laser-driven multi-modal sources are those requiring advanced non-destructive inspection techniques in industry sectors of high value commerce such as aerospace, nuclear and advanced manufacturing. We report on experimental work that demonstrates multi-modal operation of high power laser-solid interactions for neutron and x-ray beam generation. Measurements and Monte Carlo radiation transport simulations show that neutron yield is increased by a factor ~2 when a 1 mm copper foil is placed behind a 2 mm lithium foil, compared to using a 2 cm block of lithium only. We explore x-ray generation with a 10 picosecond drive pulse in order to tailor the spectral content for radiography with medium density alloy metals. The impact of using >1 ps pulse duration on laser-accelerated electron beam generation and transport is discussed alongside the optimisation of subsequent bremsstrahlung emission in thin, high atomic number target foils. X-ray spectra are deconvolved from spectrometer measurements and simulation data generated using the GEANT4 Monte Carlo code. We also demonstrate the unique capability of laser-driven x-rays in being able to deliver single pulse high spatial resolution projection imaging of thick metallic objects. Active detector radiographic imaging of industrially relevant sample objects with a 10 ps drive pulse is presented for the first time, demonstrating that features of 200 μm size are resolved when projected at high magnification.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Laser-driven x-ray and neutron source development for industrial applications of plasma accelerators

Brenner

Mirfayzi

Rusby

et al. 2015

Plasma Phys. Control. Fusion

109

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“…Thermal load issues were addressed by means of water cooling at near room temperature of the end surfaces of the amplification crystals, shaped as disks with a relatively large diameter to thickness ratio, as recently proposed [13]. Alternative approaches were considered, such as the cooling of the crystals by means of a high speed gas flow at cryogenic temperatures, as implemented in the DIPOLE Yb:YAG high energy laser system [14,15], or more recently in the Ti:Sapphire high energy amplifier implemented in the ELI-HAPLS system [16]. This cooling method was nonetheless considered not suitable for this design, as it cannot provide a sufficient heat removal for this application, and it can hardly be scaled up to even higher thermal loads, as will be clarified in the following parts.…”

Section: Power Amplificationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Implementation of gas cooling would thus require unreasonably large heat exchange surfaces to obtain sufficient cooling, in particular at the envisaged P1 performance level. In more detail, currently the highest cooling performance obtained by this technique in the DiPOLE 100 system corresponds to the removal of about 4 kW of thermal load, with an available cooling surface of about 1450 cm 2 (six Yb:YAG slabs with a cross-section of 11 × 11 cm 2 , cooled on both sides) [15]; the average heat flow per unit cooling surface is less than 3W/cm 2 , and the film coefficient k was estimated to about 0.17 W(cm 2 K) [14]. On the other hand, the overall thermal load expected in the AMP3 module is about 10 kW (i.e., a factor 2.5-times larger than in DiPOLE 100), with an average heat flow per unit cooling surface as high as 25 W/cm 2 (i.e., an order of magnitude higher); the value of the heat transfer coefficient obtained with water cooling (2.45 W/(cm 2 K) is more than an order of magnitude larger than in the case of He cooling.…”

Section: Fluid Cooling Simulationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conceptual Design of a Laser Driver for a Plasma Accelerator User Facility

et al. 2019

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The purpose of the European project EuPRAXIA is to realize a novel plasma accelerator user facility. The laser driven approach sets requirements for a very high performance level for the laser system: pulse peak power in the petawatt range, pulse repetition rate of several tens of Hz, very high beam quality and overall stability of the system parameters, along with 24/7 operation availability for experiments. Only a few years ago these performances were considered unrealistic, but recent advances in laser technologies, in particular in the chirped pulse amplification (CPA) of ultrashort pulses and in high energy, high repetition rate pump lasers have changed this scenario. This paper discusses the conceptual design and the overall architecture of a laser system operating as the driver of a plasma acceleration facility for different applications. The laser consists of a multi-stage amplification chain based CPA Ti:Sapphire, using frequency doubled, diode laser pumped Nd or Yb solid state lasers as pump sources. Specific aspects related to the cooling strategy of the main amplifiers, the operation of pulse compressors at high average power, and the beam pointing diagnostics are addressed in detail.Laser Accelerator) [4], with an average power output of tens of watts. New systems under realization aim to even higher average power levels, such as HAPLS targeting an output power of 300 W. Nonetheless, to address user-level requirements, the average power of ultrafast lasers needs to increase by one or two orders of magnitude.The purpose of the European project EuPRAXIA [5] is to provide a conceptual design for a compact, user-oriented, plasma accelerator with superior beam quality to enable free electron laser operation in the X-ray range. User requirements for an operational facility imply a significant increase of the laser driver output parameters with respect to systems currently available or under development: pulse peak power in the petawatt range, pulse repetition rate of several tens of Hz, as well as very high beam quality and overall stability of the system parameters.A description of the architecture of the laser driver was already published in previous work [6], describing the main parameters and technical solutions. This paper complements the previous one by recalling the general lines of the system architecture and addressing some specific points that are particularly critical for the system operation at high average power levels. These aspects are related to the amplifier's geometrical layout, the cooling solution to address the operation at high average power levels, and the laser beam transport-related issues.

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“…Based on an end-pumped stack of ceramic Yb:YAG slabs, the DiPOLE system is a diode-pumped, solid state laser amplifier architecture cooled by a flow of low-temperature, high-pressure helium gas [Ertel, 2011]. This technology was recently demonstrated at the 1kW level, showing 100 J output energy at 10 Hz, 1030 nm with > 60 J expected conversion @ 515 nm [21]. This architecture and gain material exhibit reduced reabsorption loss and increased absorption and emission cross-sections in Yb:YAG, with a low quantum defect due to the very close pump and emission wavelengths being 940 nm and 1030 nm, respectively.…”

Section: Candidate Pumping Unitsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A viable laser driver for a user plasma accelerator

Gizzi

Koester

Labate

et al. 2018

Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research Section A:

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The construction of a novel user facility employing laser-driven plasma acceleration with superior beam quality will require an industrial grade, high repetition rate petawatt laser driver which is beyond existing technology. However, with the ongoing fast development of chirped pulse amplification and high average power laser technology, options can be identified depending on the envisioned laser-plasma acceleration scheme and on the time scale for construction. Here we discuss laser requirements for the EuPRAXIA infrastructure design and identify a suitable laser concepts that is likely to fulfil such requirements with a moderate development of existing technologies.

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Scalable design for a high energy cryogenic gas cooled diode pumped laser amplifier

Cited by 47 publications

References 18 publications

Laser-driven x-ray and neutron source development for industrial applications of plasma accelerators

Laser-driven x-ray and neutron source development for industrial applications of plasma accelerators

Conceptual Design of a Laser Driver for a Plasma Accelerator User Facility

A viable laser driver for a user plasma accelerator

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