Abstract
Nike is a 5-kJ KrF laser facility at the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory. The primary goal for the system is the production of ultrauniform, high-intensity (≥2 × 1014-W/cm2) focal distributions that will be used to accelerate planar targets under conditions similar to those expected for direct-drive inertial-confinement fusion (ICF). Nike achieves intensity uniformity through the use of echelon-free induced spatial incoherence.1 This technique is essentially an image-amplification scheme which the desired focal distribution is produced by diffusely illuminating an object aperture with the output from a broadband, spatially incoherent oscillator. This distribution is then image relayed through multiple amplification stages, resulting in a high-intensity image of the initial object aperture on target. Because the amplifiers are located at the Fourier-transform plane of the object aperture, the focal profile is relatively insensitive to gain nonuniformities in the amplifiers.
© 1995 Optical Society of America
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