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At least 1,531 records · Page 85
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2012

Special Section Guest Editorial: Laser Damage

Laser damage of optical materials, first reported in 1964, continues to limit the output energy and power of pulsed and continuous-wave laser systems. In spite of some 48 years of research in this area, interest from the international laser community to laser damage issues remains at a very high level and does not show any sign of decreasing. Moreover, it grows with the development of novel laser systems, for example, ultrafast and short-wavelength lasers that involve new damage effects and specific mechanisms not studied before. This interest is evident from the high level of attendance and presentations at the annual SPIE Laser Damage Symposium (aka, Boulder Damage Symposium) that has been held in Boulder, Colorado, since 1969. This special section of Optical Engineering is the first one devoted to the entire field of laser damage rather than to a specific part. It is prepared in response to growing interest from the international laser-damage community. Some papers in this special section were presented at the Laser Damage Symposium; others were submitted in response to the general call for papers for this special section. The 18 papers compiled into this special section represent many sides of the broad field of laser-damage research. They consider theoretical studies of the fundamental mechanisms of laser damage including laser-driven electron dynamics in solids (O. Brenk and B. Rethfeld; A. Nikiforov, A. Epifanov, and S. Garnov; T. Apostolova et al.), modeling of propagation effects for ultrashort high-intensity laser pulses (J. Gulley), an overview of mechanisms of inclusion-induced damage (M. Koldunov and A. Manenkov), the formation of specific periodic ripples on a metal surface by femtosecond laser pulses (M. Ahsan and M. Lee), and the laser-plasma effects on damage in glass (Y. Li et al). Material characterization is represented by the papers devoted to accurate and reliable measurements of absorption with special emphasis on thin films (C. Mühlig and S. Bublitz; B. Cho, E. Danielewicz, and J. Rudisill; W. Palm et al; and J. Lu et al.). Statistical treatment of measurements of the laser-damage threshold (J. Arenberg) and the relationship to damage mechanisms (F. Wagner et al.) represent the large subfield of laser-damage measurements. Various aspects of multilayer coating and thin-film characterization are considered in papers by B. Cho, J. Rudisill, and E. Danielewicz (spectral shift in multilayer mirrors) and R. Weber et al. (novel approach to damage studies based on third-harmonic generation microscopy). Of special interest for readers is the paper by C. Stolz that summarizes the results of four “thin-film damage competitions” organized as a part of the Laser Damage Symposium. Another paper is devoted to thermal annealing of damage precursors (N. Shen et al.). Finally, the influence of nano-size contamination on initiation of laser damage by ultrashort pulses is considered in paper of V. Komolov et al.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2023

Exploring self-healing liquid metal mirrors for high-power laser applications

Here we explore the laser-damage behavior of gallium alloy-based liquid metal mirrors for their potential to provide higher damage-threshold performance. One of the key advantages of using liquid metal mirrors is the self-healing potential following perturbations arising from exposure to high-power laser pulses. In this work, key performance metrics, such as reflectivity and the laser-damage initiation mechanism and initiation threshold, were investigated using fused-silica cells filled with three different Ga liquid metal alloys. The results suggest that irreversible modification (damage) under 355- nm, 6-ns pulses are associated with the formation of gallium oxide, taking place at a fluence significantly higher than that for damage initiation in conventional metal mirrors. This exploratory work is the first of its kind and highlights the strong performance of gallium alloy metal mirrors.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2012

Electromagnetic radiation from a plasma slab during the development of Weibel instability

Electromagnetic radiation from an anisotropic plasma slab formed by ionization of matter in the field of a high-power femtosecond pulse is studied. It is shown that the growth of initial field perturbations in the course of Weibel instability is accompanied by the generation of nonmonochromatic radiation with a characteristic frequency on the order of the instability growth rate. It is found that perturbations with characteristic scale lengths less than or on the order of the ratio of the speed of light to the Langmuir frequency are excited and radiated most efficiently, provided that the slab is thicker than this ratio.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2015

On the feasibility of increasing the energy of laser-accelerated protons by using low-density targets

Optimal regimes of proton acceleration in the interaction of short high-power laser pulses with thin foils and low-density targets are determined by means of 3D numerical simulation. It is demonstrated that the maximum proton energy can be increased by using low-density targets in which ions from the front surface of the target are accelerated most efficiently. It is shown using a particular example that, for the same laser pulse, the energy of protons accelerated from a low-density target can be increased by one-third as compared to a solid-state target.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2024

Three-dimensional modeling of electric-field enhancement in multilayer dielectric gratings arising from inadvertent flaws

Pulse-compression gratings for high-power, short-pulse laser systems are exposed to high electric fields that are further enhanced locally due to their 2D nanostructured surface. This makes them vulnerable to laser-induced damage. The present work considers the effect on electric-field modulation caused by an array of commonly found inadvertent flaws in gratings including fabrication defects, contamination particles, and laser-induced–damage initiation. These defects affect the laser-damage performance characteristics of the grating. To understand the local field-enhancement distribution due these imperfections, 3D modeling of the electric-field distribution is performed with a sufficiently high resolution of 1/74 of the laser wavelength ( λ ) while considering a volume of ≈489 λ 3 . The results provide estimates for the ensuing electric-field intensification and projected reduction of the laser-damage thresholds, as well as the anticipated pattern of damage growth initiation.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗
DOE OSTI2022

Gamma-radiation-induced negative nonlinear absorption in quartz glass

The effect of ionizing radiation on the nonlinear optical properties of materials needs to be considered for applications that employ high-power laser pulses in extreme radiation environments. The Heraeus Infrasil302 optical quartz glass was irradiated by gamma rays, and its nonlinear absorption was measured using the open-aperture Z-scan technique with nanosecond laser pulses. Irradiation results in a negative nonlinear absorption coefficient whose magnitude increases with irradiation dose. Nonlinear absorption coefficients of -0.78, -1.14, -1.29, and -1.88~ × ~10 -13 m/W are measured for gamma doses of 600 krad, 1.2 Mrad, 3.6 Mrad, and 10 Mrad, respectively. Thermal annealing restores the optical properties of quartz-glass to their unirradiated values. It is suggested that metallic impurities introduced by the manufacturing process have a role in inducing saturated absorption in irradiated quartz glass, which manifests as negative nonlinear absorption coefficient, and is demonstrated by comparing Infrasil302 quartz results to equivalent irradiated measurements for Spectrosil2000 quartz.

07 ISOTOPE AND RADIATION SOURCES↗
DOE OSTI2012

Design and analysis of an integrated pulse modulated s-band power amplifier in gallium nitride process

The design of power amplifiers in any semi-conductor process is not a trivia exercise and it is often encountered that the simulated solution is qualitatively different than the results obtained. Phenomena such as oscillation occurring either in-band or out of band and sometimes at subharmonic intervals, continuous spectrum noticed in some frequency bands, often referred to as chaos, and jumps and hysteresis effects can all be encountered and render a design useless. All of these problems might have been identified through a more rigorous approach to stability analysis. Designing for stability is probably the one area of amplifier design that receives the least amount of attention but incurs the most catastrophic of effects if it is not performed properly. Other parameters such as gain, power output, frequency response and even matching may suitable mitigation paths. But the lack of stability in an amplifier has no mitigating path. In addition to of loss of the design completely there are the increased production cycle costs, costs involved with investigating and resolving the problem and the costs involved with schedule slips or delays resulting from it. The Linville or Rollett stability criteria that many microwave engineers follow and rely exclusively on is not sufficient by itself to ensure a stable and robust design. It will be shown that the universal belief that unconditional stability is obtained through an analysis of the scattering matrix S to determine if 1 and |{Delta}{sub S}| < 1 is only part of the procedure and other tools must be used to validate the criteria. The research shown contributes to the state of the art by developing a more thorough stability design technique for designing amplifiers of any class, whether that be current mode or switch mode, than is currently undertaken with the goal of obtaining first pass design success.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2014

Vortex stabilized electron beam compressed fusion grade plasma

Most inertial confinement fusion schemes are comprised of highly compressed dense plasmas. Those schemes involve short, extremely high power, short pulses of beams (lasers, particles) applied to lower density plasmas or solid pellets. An alternative approach could be to shoot an intense electron beam through very dense, atmospheric pressure, vortex stabilized plasma.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2016

Predictions for the drive capabilities of the RancheroS Flux Compression Generator into various load inductances using the Eulerian AMR Code Roxane

The Ranchero Magnetic Flux Compression Generator (FCG) has been used to create current pulses in the 10-­100 MA range for driving both “static” low inductance (0.5 nH) loads1 for generator demonstration purposes and high inductance (10-­20 nH) imploding liner loads2 for ultimate use in physics experiments at very high energy density. Simulations of the standard Ranchero generator have recently shown that it had a design issue that could lead to flux trapping in the generator, and a non-­ robust predictability in its use in high energy density experiments. A re-­examination of the design concept for the standard Ranchero generator, prompted by the possible appearance of an aneurism at the output glide plane, has led to a new generation of Ranchero generators designated the RancheroS (for swooped). This generator has removed the problematic output glide plane and replaced it with a region of constantly increasing diameter in the output end of the FCG cavity in which the armature is driven outward under the influence of an additional HE load not present in the original Ranchero. The resultant RancheroS generator, to be tested in LA43S-­L13, probably in early FY17, has a significantly increased initial inductance and may be able to drive a somewhat higher load inductance than the standard Ranchero. This report will use the Eulerian AMR code Roxane to study the ability of the new design to drive static loads, with a goal of providing a database corresponding to the load inductances for which the generator might be used and the anticipated peak currents such loads might produce in physics experiments. Such a database, combined with a simple analytic model of an ideal generator, where d(LI)/dt = 0, and supplemented by earlier estimates of losses in actual use of the standard Ranchero, scaled to estimate the increase in losses due to the longer current carrying perimeter in the RancheroS, can then be used to bound the expectations for the current drive one may apply to any load assembly in future experiments.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2017

Skin Effect Simulation for Area 11 Dense Plasma Focus Hot Plate

Two arc flashover events occurred at the DPF Area 11 facility. These flashover events happened in the same location on the bank current delivery plates. The damage from one of these events can be seen on the left-hand side of Figure 1. Since the flashovers occurred in the same area of the bank, and the reliability of the bank is important for future DPF experiments, a failure analysis effort was initiated. Part of this failure analysis effort was an effort to understand the physical reasons behind why the flashover happened, and why it happened in the same place twice. This paper summarizes an effort to simulate the current flow in the bank in order to understand the reasons for the flashover.

70 PLASMA PHYSICS AND FUSION TECHNOLOGY↗
DOE OSTI2018

Development of a Regenerative Amplifier for the Coherent electron Cooling Proof of Principle Experiment (CeC-PoP) at RHIC

The commercial laser from NuPhoton that was used for the Coherent-electron-Cooling Proof of Principle (CeC-PoP) experiment in the past runs could not meet the tight specifications needed to demonstrate coherent electron cooling due to nonlinear effects inherent to fiber lasers operating at high pulse peak powers. To overcome these limitations, the Laser design was modified prior to the start of the 2018 RHIC run by introducing an additional amplifier stage that allows to take over the majority of the amplification process from the fiber amplifiers to keep the peak power in the fibers low and avoid the accumulation of nonlinear effects. This approach allows for a reduction of the output power of the NuPhoton laser to about 5% of the nominal power level avoiding the accumulation of nonlinear effect and leaving 6mW of unstable IR seed power (See Figure 2) for a subsequent amplification stage.

43 PARTICLE ACCELERATORS↗
DOE OSTI2018

Cygnus Performance on Vega

The Cygnus Dual Beam Radiographic Facility consists of two identical radiographic sources, Cygnus 1 and Cygnus 2, each with the following specifications: 4-Rad dose at 1 m, 1-mm spot size, 50-ns pulse length, and 2.25-MeV endpoint energy. Cygnus 1 and 2 have been used for radiography of subcritical experiments at the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS) since 2004. The Cygnus Facility is located in an underground tunnel complex named U1a. The Cygnus sources were developed as a primary diagnostic for these experiments. The first subcritical experiment to utilize Cygnus, Armando, was executed on May 25, 2004. Since Armando, several other subcritical experiments have been executed in front of Cygnus, as well as physics experiments and plutonium calibration tests.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2018

(U) Pre-shot Report: Complex Loading of CeO 2 Powder

A cylindrically converging shock compaction experiment is designed utilizing the Precision High Energy-density Liner Implosion eXperiment (PHELIX) platform to dynamically load CeO 2 powder. Parametric analyses investigating the effect of PHELIX cassette geometry, PHELIX total capacitor charge, and powder compaction model on the predicted shocked density profile of the CeO 2 powder are performed using the LANL codes FLAG and RAVEN. One PHELIX cassette geometry is designed to be used in two compaction experiments using PHELIX capacitor charges of 85 and 90 kV. Predictions of the shocked density profile in the CeO 2 powder are presented for each experimental configuration using both the Ramp and P-α compaction models. The two compaction models predict shocked density profiles in the CeO 2 powder that are significantly different and should be distinguishable using proton radiography as a diagnostic.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗
DOE OSTI2023

w22_laser-radiography: Laser-Based MeV Radiography [Slides]

X-ray sources based on high-power short pulse lasers have unique advantages over conventional sources, like small spot size, flexible configuration, and tailorable spectra. Development of these sources will allow LANL to fulfill an urgent need to deploy flexible, compact, x-ray sources for static and dynamic radiography at our firing sites and facilities such as pRad and U1a. Our IC allocation supports the development of a predictive modeling capability of these laser-based sources.

46 INSTRUMENTATION RELATED TO NUCLEAR SCIENCE AND ↗
DOE OSTI2022

Ross Filter Diode Array Analysis for Red Sage

A Ross Filter Diode Array (RFDA) diagnostic was fielded on the Cygnus x-ray source during the final stages of the Red Sage campaign. This report briefly describes the motivation for the diagnostic, its construction and operating principles, and the raw data that it produces followed by an in-depth look at the procedures used to analyze this data. RFDA signals from eight Cygnus shots conducted after the conclusion of Nightshade C are analyzed and those results are discussed. Finally, recommendations are made to improve the diagnostic for future experiments.

42 ENGINEERING↗