Abstract

The design of a diode pumped solid state laser for use as an x-ray driver is described. The laser will deliver 400 mJ per pulse in a 5ns to 8ns pulselength at a 1000 Hz pulse repetition rate. The laser architecture is a master oscillator/power amplifier. A microchannel cooling technique developed at LLNL is used to allow the diodes to operate at the high repetition rate. The oscillator amplifier concept has been demonstrated in a Nd:glass system. Progress to date and experimental results will be presented. The laser will deliver 400 mJ per pulse in a 5ns to 8ns pulselength at a 1000 Hz pulse repetition rate. The laser architecture is a master oscillator/power amplifier. A microchannel cooling technique developed at LLNL is used to allow the diodes to operate at the high repetition rate. The oscillator amplifier concept has been demonstrated in a Nd:glass system. Progress to date and experimental results will be presented.

© 1993 Optical Society of America