High-repetition-rate terawatt excimer laser system with gated gain amplification

Area of Science:

• Laser Physics
• High-Power Lasers
• Optics

Background:

• High-repetition-rate, high-power laser systems are crucial for various scientific applications.
• Existing systems often face limitations in output energy and amplified spontaneous emission (ASE).

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a high-repetition-rate (10 Hz), terawatt excimer laser system.
• To enhance output energy and suppress ASE using a novel amplification scheme.

Main Methods:

• Development of a discharged-pumped, wide-aperture excimer laser amplifier.
• Implementation of a gated gain amplification scheme in the final amplification stage.
• Focusing the laser beam using an off-axis parabolic mirror.

Main Results:

• Achieved an output energy of 410 mJ with a pulse width of 280 fsec.
• Suppressed amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) to 10%.
• Generated a peak power of 1.5 TW using two beams, focused to a 2.3 µm x 2.4 µm spot size.

Conclusions:

• The developed terawatt excimer laser system demonstrates high performance in repetition rate and peak power.
• The gated gain amplification technique effectively increases output energy while controlling ASE.
• The system's focused spot size is suitable for advanced laser-matter interaction studies.