Design And Construction Of Regenerative
D. Geskus
Design and construction of regenerative amplifier and compressor for chirped pulse amplification
D. Geskus
Design and construction of regenerative amplifier and compressor for chirped pulse amplification
University of Twente
Department of Science and Technology
Laser Physics and Non-linear Optics
Enschede, July 11, 2006
Graduation Committee:
Prof. Dr. K.J. Boller
Dr. Ir. F.A. van Goor
Prof. Dr. M. Pollnau
Dr. H.J.W.M. Hoekstra
Summary
Research on acceleration of electrons by plasma waves will be performed at the laser physics and non-linear optics group of the University of Twente to develop a new compact method for acceleration of electrons. This method of electron acceleration requires an intense ultrashort laser pulse to induce a plasma wave in the plasma on which the electrons can ”surf” to higher kinetic energies.
Therefore, a laser is being developed that should deliver an 1 Joule laser pulse with a duration of 30 fs to generate the demanded 30 TW of optical power for creation of the plasma wave as required for this electron wake field acceleration experiment. The principle of the laser is based on chirped pulse amplification; a stretched pulse is amplified to the demanded energy, and re-compressed afterwards.
This report describes the performed work concerning the design and construction of a pre-amplifier and a compressor. For pre-amplification of the pulse a regenerative amplifier is used, which has been constructed and characterised.
The measured output power of the regenerative amplifier is approximately 3.5 mJ, in the future this pulse will be further amplified by two additional multipass amplifiers. But as this further amplification is beyond the scope of this master thesis, it will not be treated in this report. A grating compressor with an efficiency of approximately 70%, recompresses the pre-amplified pulse to a duration of 29 fs with a pulse energy of the compressed pulse of 2.5 mJ.
For creation of short pulses the dispersion of
Design and construction of regenerative amplifier and compressor for chirped pulse amplification
D. Geskus
Design and construction of regenerative amplifier and compressor for chirped pulse amplification
University of Twente
Department of Science and Technology
Laser Physics and Non-linear Optics
Enschede, July 11, 2006
Graduation Committee:
Prof. Dr. K.J. Boller
Dr. Ir. F.A. van Goor
Prof. Dr. M. Pollnau
Dr. H.J.W.M. Hoekstra
Summary
Research on acceleration of electrons by plasma waves will be performed at the laser physics and non-linear optics group of the University of Twente to develop a new compact method for acceleration of electrons. This method of electron acceleration requires an intense ultrashort laser pulse to induce a plasma wave in the plasma on which the electrons can ”surf” to higher kinetic energies.
Therefore, a laser is being developed that should deliver an 1 Joule laser pulse with a duration of 30 fs to generate the demanded 30 TW of optical power for creation of the plasma wave as required for this electron wake field acceleration experiment. The principle of the laser is based on chirped pulse amplification; a stretched pulse is amplified to the demanded energy, and re-compressed afterwards.
This report describes the performed work concerning the design and construction of a pre-amplifier and a compressor. For pre-amplification of the pulse a regenerative amplifier is used, which has been constructed and characterised.
The measured output power of the regenerative amplifier is approximately 3.5 mJ, in the future this pulse will be further amplified by two additional multipass amplifiers. But as this further amplification is beyond the scope of this master thesis, it will not be treated in this report. A grating compressor with an efficiency of approximately 70%, recompresses the pre-amplified pulse to a duration of 29 fs with a pulse energy of the compressed pulse of 2.5 mJ.
For creation of short pulses the dispersion of
Bibliography: Enschede, July 11, 2006 Dimitri Geskus