Abstract

The FCM–CPA laser system at the University of Toronto uses a feedback-controlled Nd: glass oscillator to directly generate high-contrast 1-ps pulses at 1.054µm—ideal for an all-glass, no-fibre chirped-pulse amplification and compression laser system. Recompressed pulse contrast is nearly 10⁸, final energy is >1J in a 1-ps pulse, in a relatively simple-to-operate system. With this system, and theoretically, we have been studying the use of isoelectronic line ratios in determination of temperature and electron energy distributions in picosecond laser-plasmas. We find that this class of spectroscopic line ratios is especially well-suited to highly transient plasmas, because the similarity of the lines leads to a diagnostic which is quasi-steady-state—more nearly ‘local’ in its time response. Also described are investigations in soft x-ray photopumped XUV laser systems, using the emission from travelling-wave laser-plasmas formed on self-healing mercury-wetted targets; these targets are particularly useful for high-repetition-rate applications.

© 1993 Optical Society of America