Fundamental Studies on Light Strings: Equipment Upgrade
Abstract
The purpose equipment upgrade to our high peak power laser system was to enable us to produce "light strings" or "filaments" at 746 nm and 248 nm. The task of ordering the components, rebuilding the source and accessories has taken over a year. The adaptive optics system developed by Intellite did not provide us with an improved beam quality for filamentation. We have therefore opted for vacuum spatial filtering that has just been implemented. The on-going tests and theory led us to the realization that a high energy (2 J/pulse) solid state source, providing a better beam quality and pulse duration in the range of 200 ps to 2 ns, launched through an aerodynamic window, should create ideal filaments over long propagation distance. Two aerodynamic windows were successfully developed. Because of the operating costs of the system (the aerodynamic window requires a compressor rental for $3,500/month), a series of major tests have been postponed until March 1st, 2004, when all equipment--- including the solid state source--- is in place.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 31, 2003
- Accession Number
- ADA420724
Entities
People
- Jean-claude Diels
Organizations
- University of New Mexico