S-AD-M-005
Chapter 1: System Overview
January 2006—Page 15 of 35
Figure 1.5
Schematic diagram of the Laser Sources subsystem design for sources 1 and 2. These sources support both short-pulse (1 to
100 ps) and long-pulse (1 to 10 ns) operation. The “green” coloration from the CLARA SHG indicates 2
~
. Beamlines 3
and 4 do not have short-pulse capability and therefore have a different configuration.
Figure 1.6
Block diagram of the Laser Sources Beamlines 3 and 4. These sources do not have short-pulse capability. Pulse lengths
and shaping between 1 and 10 ns are provided. The regen in these systems limits the pulse width.
signal and idler frequencies equals the pump frequency for each temporal portion of the pulse. Optical
parametric amplification is essentially the reverse of sum-frequency mixing, where two lower frequencies
combine to form a higher frequency as in the frequency-conversion crystals, and is described by the
same equations. OPCPA is a special case of optical parametric amplification where the signal beam is
frequency chirped.
The OPCPA pump laser starts with the same components as the long-pulse beam up to and
including the spatial shaping stage. It also includes a high-repetition-rate (5-Hz) crystal large aperture
ring amplifier (CLARA) that amplifies the shaped IR pulse to ~3 J/pulse and a second harmonic generator
(SHG) that produces ~2-J 2
~
pulses that are square in space and time. The signal emerging from the
OPCPA stage is further amplified using the same 15-cm Nd:glass amplifier that is used in long-pulse
G6862J1
Short-pulse
oscillator
Stretcher
OPCPA
stage 2
OPCPA output
spatial filter
Short pulse
apodizer
Apodizer output
spatial filter
Long-pulse
beam shaper
Long-pulse
preamplifier
Phase
modulator
Long-pulse
apodizer
Regen
CLARA
Beamline
injection
Periscope to
Laser Bay
Discrete zoom
spatial filter
Isolation
stage
15-cm glass
amplifier
OPCPA
stage 1
Second harmonic
generator (SHG)
Aperture coupled
strip line (ACSL)
Integrated front end
source (IFES)
Short-Pulse Generation Chain
Long-Pulse Generation Chain
G6863J1
Beam
shaper
Phase
modulator
Apodizer
Regen
Integrated front end
source (IFES)
Beamline
injection
Periscope
to Laser Bay
Discrete zoom
spatial filter
Isolation
stage
Power
amplifier
Aperture-coupled
strip line (ACSL)
Summary of Contents for Volume VII-System Description
Page 38: ......
