Performance of the ASTERIX III high power iodine laser
For more than 500 shots the 1 TW iodine laser Asterix III has demonstrated high reliability for light-plasma-interaction experiments. Improved laser parameters and new measurements of light pulse properties are reported.
Asterix IV iodine laser at MPQ Garching
The Asterix IV high power iodine laser is designed to deliver in a single beam output pulses with lengths ranges from 0.1 to 4 ns with a maximum power of 5 TW and an energy of up to 2 kJ. This laser has now achieved its projected output energy of 2.0 kJ and an output power of 4 TW. The Asterix laser has been developed on the basis of 10 years of experience with the 1 TW Asterix III laser and with the support of a 1D and a 3D pulse propagation code. Special emphasis has been put on obtaining an optimal overall efficiency of the laser system and a laser beam intensity profile as homogeneous as possible.
Stimulated-emission cross section and inversion lifetime in a three-atmosphere iodine photodissociation laser
An iodine photodissociation laser has been operated at three atmospheres by adding an inert gas to the laser medium. With three atmospheres of helium added a stimulated-emission cross section of 2 \times 10^{-19} cm2and an inversion half-life of 110 μs was observed.