title: Experimental demonstration of polarization smoothing in a convergent beam.
abstract: We report an experimental demonstration of polarization smoothing by using a specially cut KDP plate in the convergent ultraviolet (351 nm wavelength) section of a high-power laser system. A 410  mm×410  mm×10  mm sized KDP plate placed after the final focus lens successfully reduced the focal spot intensity contrast to 75.6%, which is in good agreement with the theoretical expectation. In our experiment, no obvious transverse stimulated scattering was observed with the maximum 351 nm laser energy of 4032 J/3 ns, thus indicating the operation safety margin of our laser system.
authors.forename: Xiaoxia
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Huaiting
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jia
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Fan
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Huaiwen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Xuewei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Deng