Abstract

We review terawatt solid-state lasers based on chirped pulse amplification and their important parameters for high-intensity laser plasma interaction experiments. Interaction experiments have been performed with our 400 fs multiterawatt Nd: glass laser. High-efficiency second harmonic generation of pulses with intensities up to 500 GW/cm² enabled us to generate intensities up to 4 × 10¹⁸ W/cm² at λ = 527 nm. These pulses were focused on low and high z-material targets. Time resolved keV spectroscopy shows that short, several ps long x-ray bursts are generated when high-contrast fs-laser radiation is used to heat the plasma. Electron densities up to 3 × 10²³ cm⁻³ are produced. Conversion efficiencies in the 4 Å−8 Å show that fs-laser-generated picosecond x-ray pulses give enough flux for future applications. Directions are discussed towards 50 fs multiterawatt pulse generation and its application to laser plasma interaction experiments.

© 1994 IEEE