1. The Mercury Project: A High Average Power, Gas-Cooled Laser for Inertial Fusion Energy Development
- Author
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Y. Fei, Raymond J. Beach, Kathleen I. Schaffers, S.A. Payne, T. Ladran, R. Campbell, S. Telford, Alvin C. Erlandson, P. Armstrong, N. Peterson, E. Ault, J. Tassano, Jay W. Dawson, Z. Liao, M. Randles, John A. Caird, R. Kent, Andy J. Bayramian, Barry L. Freitas, Camille Bibeau, Christopher A. Ebbers, Joseph A. Menapace, B. Molander, E. Utterback, S.B. Sutton, and B. Chai
- Subjects
Nuclear and High Energy Physics ,Materials science ,Thermonuclear fusion ,Mercury laser ,business.industry ,020209 energy ,Mechanical Engineering ,Amplifier ,Energy conversion efficiency ,02 engineering and technology ,Fusion power ,Laser ,01 natural sciences ,010305 fluids & plasmas ,law.invention ,Optics ,Nuclear Energy and Engineering ,law ,0103 physical sciences ,0202 electrical engineering, electronic engineering, information engineering ,Nuclear fusion ,General Materials Science ,business ,Inertial confinement fusion ,Civil and Structural Engineering - Abstract
Hundred-joule, kilowatt-class lasers based on diode-pumped solid-state technologies, are being developed worldwide for laser-plasma interactions and as prototypes for fusion energy drivers. The goal of the Mercury Laser Project is to develop key technologies within an architectural framework that demonstrates basic building blocks for scaling to larger multi-kilojoule systems for inertial fusion energy (IFE) applications. Mercury has requirements that include: scalability to IFE beamlines, 10 Hz repetition rate, high efficiency, and 10 9 shot reliability. The Mercury laser has operated continuously for several hours at 55 J and 10 Hz with fourteen 4 x 6 cm 2 ytterbium doped strontium fluoroapatite amplifier slabs pumped by eight 100 kW diode arrays. A portion of the output 1047 nm was converted to 523 nm at 160 W average power with 73% conversion efficiency using yttrium calcium oxy-borate (YCOB).
- Published
- 2007
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