Abstract

Helios was a typical Los Alamos National Laboratory CO₂ laser fusion system. Each of its eight beams delivered 2 TW in a 120-µm spot with peak intensity exceeding 10¹⁶W/cm². The optical system contained more than 100 elements in eight identical paths, each ~120 m long. The other example discussed is the resonator design for the RF linac-based free electron lasers which produce a thin, pencillike beam because of the nature of the gain volume. The uses and limitations of geometrical and physical optics techniques in the optical design and analysis of these systems is discussed.

© 1989 Optical Society of America