Formation of the uniform irradiation of a target in high-power laser facilities

Abstract

The methods are developed for obtaining highly uniform laser beams for direct irradiation of targets in high-power laser facilities being designed. The methods are based on the optimisation of the mutual arrangement of the beams irradiating a target, the use of stationary phase plates for the formation of the specified radiation intensity distribution on the target, and the employment of the spatiotemporal beam smoothing to suppress small-scale inhomogeneities. The requirements on different systems of the facility are considered which provide the necessary accuracy of the beam steering on a target and the admissible difference in the intensities of the beams. A method is proposed for the spatiotemporal beam smoothing using the nonstationary properties of a laser plasma. The possibilities of this method are studied experimentally.