Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-mzp66 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-15T07:04:38.705Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Insulator Materials in High Power Lasers for Inertial Fusion: Present and Future*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 February 2011

William F. Krupke
William F. Krupke*
Affiliation:
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, University of California, P. O. Box 5508, Livermore, California 94550
Get access

Abstract

Dielectric insulator materials have played a critical role in the development of high peak power solid state lasers for use in inertial confinement fusion research: as laser gain media; as transparent substrates for lenses, mirrors, and polarizers; and as active optical materials in nonlinear harmonic generators and electro-optical devices. Materials have been developed which have exceptionally high resistance to damage in the presence of intense optical beams (> GW/cm2) and which possess other properties which optimize their functions in the laser systems. Fusion lasers built to date have been designed for “single shot” operation, and the dielectric insulator materials developed for use in them have had to function under only extremely low average power loading. As we look to the future, fusion laser systems will be required to operate repetitively (few Hz) and deliver high average power output (> MW) at an efficiency greater than 10 percent. Insulator materials for use in these systems must be selected and developed on the basis of their combined mechanical, thermal, and optical properties. In this presentation, I will summarize the important characteristics of currently used insulator materials, identify figures of merit for materials needed in future systems, and outline a methodology for identifying and evaluating new materials meeting the stringent performance requirements of future fusion laser systems.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 24: Symposium B – Defect Properties and Processing of High-Technology Nonmetallic Materials , 1983 , 401
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1984

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

*

Work performed under the auspices of the U. S. Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Research, Materials Sciences Division, by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under Contract W–7405–Eng–48.

References

REFERENCES

1. Simmons, W. W. and Godwin, R. O., Nuclear Technology/Fusion 4, 8 (1983).Google Scholar
2. Lowdermilk, W. H. and Milam, D., Appl. Phys. Lett. 36, 891 (1980).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
3. Minot, M. J., J. Opt. Soc. Am. 66, 515 (1976).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
4. Asahara, Y. and Izumitani, T., J. Non-Crys. Solids 42, 269 (1980).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
5. Cook, L. M., Ciolek, S., and Mader, K. H., J. Am. Ceram. Soc. 65, C152 (1982).Google Scholar
6. Mukherjee, S. P. and Lowdermilk, W. H., Appl. Opt. 21, 293 (1982).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
7. Seka, W., Jacobs, S. D., Rizzo, J. E., Moni, R., Craxton, R. S., Opt. Commun. 34, 469 (1980).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
8. Craxton, R. S., Opt. Commun. 34, 474 (1980).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
9. Linford, G. J., Johnson, B. C., Hildum, J. S., Martin, W. E., Snyder, K., Boyd, R., Smith, W. L., Hunt, J. T., Speck, D. R., and Swain, J. E., Appl. Opt., (1983).Google Scholar
10. Summers, M. A., Boyd, R. D., Eimerl, D., and Booth, E. M., IEEE/OSA Conference on Laser Engineering on Optics (CLEO), Technical Digest, June 1981 Google Scholar
11. Murray, J. E., Baker, P. C., Bryan, J. B., Johnson, B. C., Mayo, S. E., Warshaw, S., and Woods, B. W., J. Opt. Soc. Am. 71, 1629 (1981).Google Scholar
12. Jain, K., Hewig, G. H., Cheng, Y. Y., and Crowley, J. I., IEEE J. Quantum Electron QE–17, 1593 (1981).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
13. Owens Illinois, Toledo, Ohio. Product Bulletin, 8–6151–21–IM, Strengthened Glasses, ED–25.Google Scholar
14. Müller, G. and Neuroth, N., J. Appl. Phys. 5, 2315 (1973).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
15. Chrysochoos, J. and Rapp, C. F., J. Lumines. 8, 149 (1973).Google Scholar
16. Emmett, J. L., Krupke, W. F., and Trenholme, J. B., Soviet J. Quantum Electrons. 13, 1 (1983).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
17. Emmett, J. L., Krupke, W. F., and Trenholme, J. B., The Future Development of High Power Solid State Laser Systems, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, UCRL–53344, November 1982.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
18. Weber, M. J., Milam, D., and Smith, W. L., Opt. Eng. 17, 463 (1978).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
19. Bettis, J. R., Guenther, A. H., and House II, R. A., Opt. Letters 4, 256 (1979).CrossRefGoogle Scholar