Synchronizing single-shot high-energy iodine photodissociation laser PALS and high-repetition-rate femtosecond Ti:sapphire laser system

Abstract

A system of precise pulse synchronization between a single-shot large-scale laser exploiting an acousto-optical modulator and a femtosecond high repetition rate laser is reported in this article. This opto-electronical system has been developed for synchronization of the sub-nanosecond kJ-class iodine photodissociation laser system (Prague Asterix Laser System-PALS) with the femtosecond 25-TW Ti:sapphire (Ti:Sa) laser operating at a repetition rate 1 kHz or 10 Hz depending on the required energy level of output pulses. At 1 kHz synchronization regime, a single femtosecond pulse of duration about 45 fs and a small energy less than 1 mJ are exploited as a probe beam for irradiation of a three-frame interferometer, while at 10 Hz repetition rate a single femtosecond pulse with higher energy about 7-10 mJ is exploited as a probe beam for irradiation of a two-channel polaro-interferometer. The synchronization accuracy ±100 ps between the PALS and the Ti:Sa laser pulses has been achieved in both regimes of synchronization. The femtosecond interferograms of laser-produced plasmas obtained by the three-frame interferometer and the femtosecond polarimetric images obtained by the two-frame polaro-interferometer confirm the full usefulness and correct functionality of the proposed method of synchronization.

Magnetized plasma implosion in a snail target driven by a moderate-intensity laser pulse

“…Within this approach, the full set of data related to an optical diagnostic of a single laser shot was obtained in two consecutive time moments by the phase - amplitude analysis of the interferometric fringes. The polaro-interferometer was driven by a Ti:Sa laser pulse (808 nm and 40 fs) synchronized with the iodine PALS laser 17 .…”

“…The laser beam was focused to the focal spot of ~100 μm in diameter, thus providing the intensity on the target up to 2·10 16 W/cm 2 . An auxiliary synchronized Ti:Sa laser pulse 17 with a wavelength of 808 nm and the pulse duration 40 fs was used for the complex polaro-interferometric diagnostics.…”

Magnetic field generation using single-plate targets driven by kJ-ns class laser

“…Polarimetry technique was used to measure the induced Faraday rotation of the probe beams in the TGG crystal. Two probe beams used in the experiment were: a frequency doubled (2ω) beam derived from the main laser (pulse duration of ∼ 250 ps FWHM, wavelength 655 nm) and a synchronized Ti:Sa beam (pulse duration ∼ 50 fs FWHM, at wavelength 810 nm) [22]. The latter beam was used for polarimetry imaging with the setup based on the design described by Pisarczyk et al [23].…”

Complex interferometry of magnetized plasma: accuracy and limitations

“…With beam splitting, a leakage of a main beam, sometimes modified by nonlinear transformations, is often used in interferometric and polarimetric measurements. Combination of different beam sources also may be implemented, although their synchronization is a sophisticated task [1] .…”