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Multistep redirection by cross-beam power transfer of ultrahigh-power lasers in a plasma

Abstract

Laser redirection by cross-beam power transfer in a plasma is an important example of a nonlinear optics process which uses laser–plasma instabilities to one’s advantage. We have demonstrated this in a hohlraum plasma at the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. A four-wave mixing process causes laser power in multiple beams to change direction and add to the laser power of a selected beam. The process is controlled by setting the wavelength separation of the interacting laser beams. This technique provides a method to remotely re-point or combine high-powered laser beams without the need of local optical apparatus.

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Figure 1: Three-dimensional simulation showing the power flow during the three-colour cross-beam interaction.
Figure 2: The optical backscatter system on the NIF consists of a FABS and a NBI instrument for one outer (50°) and one inner (30°) quad and a NBI detector at 23.5°.
Figure 3: SRS plotted for the 23° and 30° beams as a function of energy in the high-intensity part of pulse after cross-beam transfer.
Figure 4: Images of SRS light on the scatter plates show the effect of changing from two-colour to three-colour tuning.
Figure 5: Measured and simulated compressed core images of X-ray emission.

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Acknowledgements

This work was performed under the auspices of the US Department of Energy by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344.

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Contributions

The project was planned by S.H.G., P.M., B.J.M., L.D. and E.I.M. The experiment was designed by P.M., L.D., S.H.G., D.A.C., and C.H. The experiment was carried out by S.H.G., P.M., J.D.M., J.L.K., S.D., G.A.K., C.H. and D.K.B. Target fabrication was carried out by A.H. and A.N. The data were analysed by J.D.M., P.M., L.D., E.B., D.K.B., E.L.D., S.G., N.I., G.A.K., N.B.M., M.B.S. and K.W. Simulations were carried out by R.P.J.T. and O.J.

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Correspondence to J. D. Moody.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Moody, J., Michel, P., Divol, L. et al. Multistep redirection by cross-beam power transfer of ultrahigh-power lasers in a plasma. Nature Phys 8, 344–349 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys2239

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