Phase 1 performance ramping of the HAPLS pump laser, a high-energy DPSSL based on Nd:glass, successfully produced 70J at 1053nm from a single aperture and 39J at 527nm using LBO frequency converter running at 3.3Hz repetition rate.

Initial performance ramping of the HAPLS pump laser, a high-energy DPSSL based on Nd:glass, produced 70J at 1053nm from a single aperture and 39J at 527nm using LBO frequency converter all at 3.3Hz repetition rate.

This year fusion ignition and gain are expected on the National Ignition Facility at LLNL. The pathway to inertial fusion energy begins by addressing high average power operation of the diode pumped solid state laser system, target chamber, target injection and tracking, target mass production, blanket, and the balance of plant. To meet efficiency requirements, the power conditioning for the laser diodes must be compact and efficient. A diode pulser has been designed to meet these specifications, operate efficiently, and provide a means to minimizing cost and size for the estimated 4.4 million pulsers needed for a power plant.

We report on an LDRD seed program of novel technology development (started by an FY98 Engineering Tech-base project) that will enable extremely high-fidelity analog-to-digital converters for a variety of national security missions. High speed (l0+ GS/s ), high precision (l0+ bits) ADC technology requires extremely short aperture times ({approx}1ps ) with very low jitter requirements (sub 10fs ). These fundamental requirements, along with other technological barriers, are difficult to realize with electronics: However, we outline here, a way to achieve these timing apertures using a novel multi-wavelength optoelectronic short-pulse optical source. Our approach uses an optoelectronic feedback scheme with high optical Q to produce an optical pulse train with ultra-low jitter ( sub 5fs) and high amplitude stability (<10{sup 10}). This approach requires low power and can be integrated into an optoelectronic integrated circuit to minimize the size. Under this seed program we have demonstrated that the optical feedback mechanism can be used to generate a high Q resonator. This has reduced the technical risk for further development, making it an attractive candidate for outside funding.

We will describe research being conducted in the following areas: high-speed, 50 ohm, phased-matched modulators and their applications to digital links; promising new research on flat-panel displays that will be full color, fast response, very thin, and have a very high resolution; all optical switches that are extremely fast, integrable and do not have the latency problems that exist with current optical switches; semiconductor optical amplifiers that are monolithically integrable, more flexible and less expensive than existing fiber amplifiers; novel, semiconductor waveguide devices; and automated packaging techniques that will lower the cost of photonics components.