KrF amplifier design issues and application to inertial confinement fusion system design

Abstract

Los Alamos National Laboratory has assembled an array of experimental and theoretical tools to optimize amplifier design for future single-pulse KrF lasers. The next opportunity to exercise these tools is with the design of the second-generation NIKE system under construction at the Naval Research Laboratory with the collaboration of Los Alamos National Laboratory. Major issues include laser physics (energy extraction in large modules with amplified spontaneous emission) and diode performance and efficiency. Low cost is increasingly important for larger future KrF single-pulse systems (low cost and high efficiency is important for larger repetitively pulsed applications such as electric power production). In this article, we present our approach to amplifier scaling and discuss the more important design considerations for large single-pulse KrF amplifiers. We point out where improvements in the fundamental database for KrF amplifiers could lead to increased confidence in performance predictions for large amplifiers and address the currently unresolved issues of anomalous absorption near line center and the possibility of diode instabilities for lowimpedance designs. Los Alamos has applied these amplifier design tools to the conceptual design of a 100-kJ Laser Target Test Facility and a 3-MJ Laboratory Microfusion Facility.