Large Format Faraday Isolators for High Power Ultrafast Laser Systems

e. Large Format Faraday Isolators for High Power Ultrafast Laser Systems The development of kilowatt-class ultrafast laser systems will necessitate the development of large-aperture low-loss Faraday isolators capable of handling high repetition rate use with high peak power ultrafast laser systems. Optical components must operate reliably with a continuous pulse train of Joule-class, sub-picosecond length laser pulses at either Yb, Tm, or CO2 wavelengths. Optical components must preserve very high beam quality (M-squared<1.2) and operation must be thermomechanically stable (i.e. minimal beam steering, minimal thermal lensing, and minimal degradation of the basic function of the device) over the entire average power range from 0 to 100%. Proposals are sought to develop a large-aperture low-loss Faraday isolator capable of handling either: 1 kW of continuous input power centered at either Yb or Tm wavelengths, with a pulse format of 1 kHz, 1 Joule, 100 fsec pulses; transmission must exceed 95% and isolation must exceed 30 dB across the entire 5% bandwidth; a credible technical path to extend the design to 100 kW average power must be outlined in the proposal; Or 100 W of continuous input power centered at CO2 wavelengths (9.2 microns preferred), with a pulse format of 5 Hz, 20 Joule, 300 fsec pulses; transmission must exceed 90% and isolation must exceed 30 db across the entire 10% bandwidth; a credible technical path to extend the design to 1 kW average power must be outlined in the proposal. Questions Contact: Eric Colby, eric.colby@science.doe.gov