This invention proposes achieving the same effect of a single, high intensity pulse through the use of a closely spaced burst of short duration pulses. By keeping the intensity of the individual pulses below the damage threshold the risk of catastrophic damage is greatly mitigated. Additionally, the pulses are directed to strike the target at locations temporally and spatially sufficiently…
Keywords
- Show all (30)
- Compact Space Telescopes (5)
- Diode Lasers (4)
- Precision Optical Finishing (3)
- RF Photonics (3)
- Manufacturing Simulation (1)
- Precision Engineering (1)
- (-) Laser Materials Processing (5)
- (-) Optical Damage Mitigation (3)
- (-) Ultrashort Pulse Lasers (3)
- (-) Additively Manufactured (AM) Optics (1)
- (-) Sensors (1)
![Left to right: Drew Willard, Brendan Reagan, and Issa Tamer work on the Tm:YLF laser system. Photos by Jason Laurea](/sites/default/files/styles/scale_exact_400x400_/public/2024-05/TmYLF%20laser.jpg?itok=63DzYeha)
This invention proposes the use of a nonlinear spectral broadening subsystem as a post-CPA pulse compression add-on for high energy laser systems. The proposed solution utilizes the beam profile of a high peak power laser as a reference to shape a highly transmissive nonlinear plastic (e.g., CR39) itself to ensure a spatially homogeneous nonlinear spectral broadening.
![structures created using method for producing laser gain media by atomic layer deposition](/sites/default/files/styles/scale_exact_400x400_/public/2024-05/structures%20created%20using%20IL-13529.png?itok=avGMNFzj)
Powder atomic layer deposition process is used to coat nanopowders of host materials (e.g. yttrium aluminum garnet) with optically active neodymium organometal precursor followed by O2/O3 RF plasma to convert to a single layer of Nd2O3. The process can be repeated to build arbitrarily thick layers with custom doping profiles and followed by post-…
![Laser peening induces deep compressive stress, which significantly extends the service lifetime over any conventional treatment](/sites/default/files/styles/scale_exact_400x400_/public/2024-02/laser%20peening%20inducing%20deep%20compressive%20stress.png?itok=oMzDBpkP)
This invention proposes using a pulse laser configured to generate laser pulses and a controller for controlling operation of the pulse laser. The controller is further configured to control the pulse laser to cause the pulse laser to generate at least one of the laser pulses with a spatiotemporally varying laser fluence over a duration of at least one of the laser pulses. The spatiotemporally…
![HAPLS](/sites/default/files/styles/scale_exact_400x400_/public/2019-09/High-Repetition-Rate%20Advanced%20Petawatt%20Laser%20System.jpg?itok=T6tyQfDN)
LLNL researchers have developed a high average power Faraday rotator that is gas-cooled and uniquely designed to dissipate heat uniformly so that it does not build up in the optical component and affect its performance. The Faraday rotator material is sliced into smaller disks like a loaf of bread so that high speed helium gas can flow between the slices. With this highly efficient cooling…
![National Ignition Facility (NIF)](/sites/default/files/styles/scale_exact_400x400_/public/2023-06/NIF.jpg?itok=Gem1TaQc)
This novel detector for characterizing IFE implosions is an alternative to the current RTNADs to measure neutron fluxes > 3x1011 neutrons/cm2 at high shot rates. The detector consists of a stack of small square metal wafers separated by thin insulating spacers. Every other wafer is held at high voltage while the remaining wafers are grounded. The stack acts as an…
![The High-Repetition-Rate Advanced Petawatt Laser System (HAPLS), the world’s most advanced and highest average power diode-pumped petawatt laser system, at LLNL.](/sites/default/files/styles/scale_exact_400x400_/public/2023-05/HAPLS.jpg?itok=k06DgZFt)
This invention discloses a method to minimize transient variations in the wavelength- and/or pointing-behavior of an optic, without requiring a reduction in its thermal resistance, optical absorption, or operating irradiance. The invention employs a combination of a time-varying heat source and time-varying thermal resistance and/or heat sink temperature to achieve temperature stability of the…
![NIF Target Chamber](/sites/default/files/styles/scale_exact_400x400_/public/2023-05/NIF%20Target%20Chamber.jpg?itok=7tM0wDWR)
This invention concerns a new type of optic: a transient gas or plasma volume grating produced indirectly by small secondary lasers or directly by nonlinear processes using the primary beams themselves. When used in conjunction with advantageously placed shielding it offers a means of protecting the final optical components of a high-repetition-rate IFE facility. These transmission optics are…
![creation of ultra-high energy density matter by an intense laser pulse](/sites/default/files/styles/scale_exact_400x400_/public/2022-06/laser_update875.jpg?itok=793sEzmU)
![gradient_composition_glass.jpg gradient_composition_glass](/sites/default/files/styles/scale_exact_400x400_/public/2019-08/gradient_composition_glass.jpg?itok=3r78HGNv)
LLNL researchers have developed a custom resin formulation which uses a dispersing solvent and only a multifunctional monomer as the binding agent. The dispersing solvent system typically used has multiple components meant to achieve excellent dispersal of silica in order to create a flowable resin (rather than a paste). The dispersing agent has low vapor pressure, which allows the 3D printed…
![Serrated Light Illumination for Deflection-Encoded Recording (SLIDER)](/sites/default/files/styles/scale_exact_400x400_/public/2022-06/Serrated%20Light%20Illumination%20for%20Deflection-Encoded%20Recording%20%20%28SLIDER%29.jpg?itok=8Pa6FW-h)
The SLIDER deflector includes a waveguide, a serrated mask positioned above the waveguide cladding, and a synchronized pump beam. The pump beam illuminates the serrated mask with a short pulse and transfers its pattern to the guiding layer where it imprints a sequence of prisms. The prisms are activated via nonlinear optical effects in the semiconductor and persist for the duration of the…
![Laser Peening](/sites/default/files/styles/scale_exact_400x400_/public/2022-06/Laser%20peening.jpg?itok=l2OKtGme)
LLNL’s system consists of one or more flashlamp-pumped Nd:glass zig-zag amplifiers, a very low threshold stimulated-Brillouin-scattering (SBS) phase conjugator system, and a free-running single frequency Nd:YLF master oscillator.
![nuclear reactor](/sites/default/files/styles/scale_exact_400x400_/public/2022-06/nuclear%20reactor.jpg?itok=RMgGfrZv)
The new LLNL technique works by transiently removing and trapping concrete or rock surface material, so that contaminants are confined in a manner that is easy to isolate and remove. Our studies suggest that 10 m2 of surface could be processed per hour. The technique easily scales to more surface/hr.