Designing and building an integrated target chamber system for high intensity short-pulse laser-target interaction experiments

Abstract

We have recently designed and are building a plasma experiment chamber system for a high intensity short pulse Ti:sapphire 100 TW laser (λ=800 nm, 2 J, 20 fs) at the Advanced Photon Research Center, JAERI. The expected primary use of the chamber is for high intensity (up to 1020 W cm−2) laser solid target experiments for hot electron, ion, and x-ray production. In order to achieve these intensity levels, the focal spot size on the target needs to be much smaller (⩽φ10 μm) than those used in relatively high laser energy experiments using ⩾100 fs laser pulse widths. The system consists of a target monitor system, a target insertion device (manipulator shuttle), a target stage assembly, and an on-target beam profiler all integrated together. We used calibrated apertures, hereafter called “zero pinholes,” placed at the focal point to assess the on-target energy accurately within a defined spot area. It is intended for general experiments rather than specifically configured ones, e.g., time-diffraction kind of experiments. However, great care was taken to have the capability to accommodate these types of experiments in the future.