Phase-locked control of tiled-grating assemblies for chirped-pulse-amplified lasers using a Mach-Zehnder interferometer.
Multikilojoule petawatt lasers using chirped-pulse amplification are being constructed worldwide. Several systems have adopted a tiled-grating approach to meet the size requirements for the compression gratings. Grating tiles need to be precisely phased to ensure a transform-limited focal spot when focusing high-energy laser pulses in the target plane. A computer-control test system that uses a Mach-Zehnder interferometer capable of monitoring and correcting drift in the tiled-grating assemblies within the compressor is described. The differential errors due to eight gratings, within a compressor with four grating assemblies, were compensated by adjusting a single grating.
Bunkenburg
J
J
Laboratory for Laser Energetics, University of Rochester, New York 14623-1299, USA. jbun@lle.rochester.edu
Kessler
T J
TJ
Skulski
W
W
Huang
H
H