The upgrade to the OMEGA laser system

Abstract

The upgrade to the OMEGA laser system, a 30-kJ, 351-nm, 60-beam direct-drive laser-fusion system is reported here. The system configuration is presented along with the status of its construction and the plans for system activation. The system utilizes rod and disk amplifiers and frequency tripling to produce UV pulses which are smoothed using phase conversion and smoothing by spectral dispersion. Dual driver lines will feed the propagation of two co-axial beams, which have different pulse widths and occupy different portions of the laser aperture. The laser system will be completed in November 1994 and the target area in March 1995.