Abstract

This talk will discuss the Los Alamos experience in obtaining large components (up to 18 inches in diameter) for use in the four generations of carbon dioxide lasers built over the last ten years for inertial confinement fusion research. Topics of interest are single point diamond turning and large sodium chloride crystal production. The first of the four large laser systems was referred to simply as "67," since it was housed in Building 67. Next was a dual beam modular system called Gemini. The third was Helios and the last in the series was Antares, only recently completed (October ’83). Each system will be described and the lessons learned from each discussed. The primary contributions to the state of optical art probably came in two areas: single point diamond turning and large salt crystal production.

© 1984 Optical Society of America