Characteristics of pulsed nuclear-reactor-pumped flowing gas lasers

William A. Neuman; James R. Fincke

doi:10.1117/12.43615

1 April 1991 Characteristics of pulsed nuclear-reactor-pumped flowing gas lasers

William A. Neuman, James R. Fincke

Proceedings Volume 1411, Pulse Power for Lasers III; (1991) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.43615
Event: Optics, Electro-Optics, and Laser Applications in Science and Engineering, 1991, Los Angeles, CA, United States

Abstract

Nuclear reactors offer very large energy sources to pump lasers without the need for external power supplies. The large energy deposition possible in nuclear reactor pumped lasers (NRPLs) requires a flowing gas system to control thermal effects. A NRPL amplifier pumped by charged particles originating in fuel films parallel to a flowing buffer gas is presented. A 10 ms full width half maximum Gaussian reactor pulse is specified and the flow velocity in the cavity is varied to investigate the amplifier behavior for hydrodynamic time scales shorter, comparable, and longer than the reactor time scale. The index of refraction aberration in the cavity is dominated by a tilt in the flow direction and a cylindrical focus transverse to the flow. Higher order aberations are also significant and exhibit complex behavior during the pulse as the hydrodynamic time scale becomes long compared with the time scale of the reactor pulse. The far field beam quality resulting from the combined 3rd and 4th order aberrations is found to correlate well with the maximum index aberration in the aperture and not with the average power deposition. This correlation breaks down when the 4th order aberrations become significant and the qualitative nature of the aberration changes.

Citation Download Citation

William A. Neuman and James R. Fincke "Characteristics of pulsed nuclear-reactor-pumped flowing gas lasers", Proc. SPIE 1411, Pulse Power for Lasers III, (1 April 1991); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.43615

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available