title: Operation and beam profiling of an up to 200 kHz pulse-burst laser for Thomson scattering.
abstract: A new, high-repetition rate laser is in development for use on the Thomson scattering diagnostic on the Madison Symmetric Torus. The laser has been tested at a rate of 200 kHz in a pulse-burst operation, producing bursts of 5 pulses above 1.5 J each, while capable of bursts of 17 pulses at 100 kHz. A master oscillator-power amplifier architecture is used with a Nd:YVO4 oscillator, four Nd:YAG amplifiers, and a Nd:glass amplifier. A radial profile over the pulse sequence is measured by using a set of graphite apertures and an energy meter, showing a change in beam quality over a pulsing sequence.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA.
authors.forename: W C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Young
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin 53706, USA.
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Den Hartog