• High Power Laser Science and Engineering
  • Vol. 3, Issue 3, 03000001 (2015)
Ian Musgrave, Marco Galimberti, Alexis Boyle, Cristina Hernandez-Gomez, Andrew Kidd, Bryn Parry, Dave Pepler, Trevor Winstone, and John Collier
Author Affiliations
  • Central Laser Facility, Science and Technology Facilities Council, RAL, Didcot, Oxfordshire OX 11 0QX, UK
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    DOI: 10.1017/hpl.2015.27 Cite this Article Set citation alerts
    Ian Musgrave, Marco Galimberti, Alexis Boyle, Cristina Hernandez-Gomez, Andrew Kidd, Bryn Parry, Dave Pepler, Trevor Winstone, John Collier. Review of laser diagnostics at the Vulcan laser facility[J]. High Power Laser Science and Engineering, 2015, 3(3): 03000001 Copy Citation Text show less
    Artist’s 3D impression of the Vulcan laser facility.
    Fig. 1. Artist’s 3D impression of the Vulcan laser facility.
    Schematic of the Vulcan beam line for TAP.
    Fig. 2. Schematic of the Vulcan beam line for TAP.
    Schematic of the Vulcan short pulse beam lines for TAW.
    Fig. 3. Schematic of the Vulcan short pulse beam lines for TAW.
    Example of the output of a diagnostics package from the TAW oscillator.
    Fig. 4. Example of the output of a diagnostics package from the TAW oscillator.
    Diagnostics package to monitor the injection into the laser bay.
    Fig. 5. Diagnostics package to monitor the injection into the laser bay.
    Diagnostics package for the injection into the rod chain.
    Fig. 6. Diagnostics package for the injection into the rod chain.
    Diagnostics package at the end of the rod amplifier chain.
    Fig. 7. Diagnostics package at the end of the rod amplifier chain.
    Schematic of the diagnostics package used at the end of the disc amplifier chain.
    Fig. 8. Schematic of the diagnostics package used at the end of the disc amplifier chain.
    Schematic of the diagnostics package at the output of the 108 mm beamlines. The beam is incident from the left and is being focused by a lens (not shown).
    Fig. 9. Schematic of the diagnostics package at the output of the 108 mm beamlines. The beam is incident from the left and is being focused by a lens (not shown).
    Schematic of the Vulcan short pulse diagnostics in TAP. The main pulse follows the red path, the full aperture beam the pink path and the sub-aperture diagnostics the green path.
    Fig. 10. Schematic of the Vulcan short pulse diagnostics in TAP. The main pulse follows the red path, the full aperture beam the pink path and the sub-aperture diagnostics the green path.
    Oscilloscope trace of contrast diode capture on a shot.
    Fig. 11. Oscilloscope trace of contrast diode capture on a shot.
    Laser near-field recorded on the full aperture diagnostics.
    Fig. 12. Laser near-field recorded on the full aperture diagnostics.
    Layout of the low sub-aperture diagnostics.
    Fig. 13. Layout of the low sub-aperture diagnostics.
    Near-field incident onto the sub-aperture diagnostics.
    Fig. 14. Near-field incident onto the sub-aperture diagnostics.
    Image captured by the near-field autocorrelator in the sub-aperture diagnostics package.
    Fig. 15. Image captured by the near-field autocorrelator in the sub-aperture diagnostics package.
    Example of an autocorrelation trace recorded using the sub-aperture diagnostics line.
    Fig. 16. Example of an autocorrelation trace recorded using the sub-aperture diagnostics line.
    Image of the post-compression diagnostics suite in TAW.
    Fig. 17. Image of the post-compression diagnostics suite in TAW.
    Schematic of the layout for the short pulse diagnostics in TAW.
    Fig. 18. Schematic of the layout for the short pulse diagnostics in TAW.
    Histogram of pulse durations recorded during an experimental campaign in TAP.
    Fig. 19. Histogram of pulse durations recorded during an experimental campaign in TAP.
    Histogram of pulse durations recorded during an experimental campaign in TAW.
    Fig. 20. Histogram of pulse durations recorded during an experimental campaign in TAW.
    ComponentDiagnosticsRegime 3
    SP oscillatorNF, FF and SpecContinuous
    LP oscillatorNF, FF, TS and E10 Hz
    Stretcher inputNF and FFContinuous
    Stretcher outputNF and FFContinuous
    OPCPA pre-ampNF , FF , E and Spec 2 Hz
    Table 1. Summary of front end diagnostics.
    ComponentDiagnosticsRegime
    InjectionNF, FFCo, Trg, PS, OS
    Rod chain inputNF, FFCo, Trg, PS, OS
    Rod chain outputNF, FF, SP and ECo, Trg, PS, OS
    108 mm disc outputNF, FF, TS and ECo, Trg, PS, OS
    150 mm disc outputNF, FF, SP and ECo, Trg, PS, OS
    200 mm disc outputNF, FF, SP and ECo, Trg, PS, OS
    Table 2. Summary of the laser bay diagnostics.
    ComponentDiagnosticsRegime
    Full apertureNF, FF, Con, SACCo, Trg, PS, OS
    Sub-apertureNF, FF, SAC, LAC, and SPTrg, OS
    TAW LENF, FF, LAC and SPCo, Trg, PS, OS
    TAW HENF, FF, LAC and SPCo, Trg, PS, OS
    Table 3. Summary of target area laser diagnostics.
    Ian Musgrave, Marco Galimberti, Alexis Boyle, Cristina Hernandez-Gomez, Andrew Kidd, Bryn Parry, Dave Pepler, Trevor Winstone, John Collier. Review of laser diagnostics at the Vulcan laser facility[J]. High Power Laser Science and Engineering, 2015, 3(3): 03000001
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