A new method concerning secure free-space communications by means of chirped laser pulse interference is proposed. Physical-layer security of the link is ensured by encoding the data in a relative phase difference between two spatially separated beams. The possible architecture of the dual-node link is discussed based on acousto-optic elements for signal modulation and detection.

A calculational and experimental study has been carried out for the spatial intensity profiles of laser beams formed at the output of an aperture-partitioning system using serrated apodizing stops with various types of serrated structures. Arrays of 2×2 and 1×2 beams with square and rectangular apertures are obtained, and it is experimentally shown that apodized beams can be formed with a high fill factor and an excess of the peak energy density relative to the mean value of no more than 1%.

The formation of the spatial intensity profile of a laser beam in a system consisting of a square serrated aperture stop and a spatial filter has been studied. This paper discusses how various shapes of the serrations of the stop, as well as various radiation-selection angles in the spatial filter, affect the resulting beam profile. The far fields of the beams formed by the serrated stops are analyzed. Special attention is paid to the question of maintaining the spatial structure of apodized beams when they freely propagate in space.

A PS-1/S1 picosecond image-tube streak camera (ITSC) with slit scan (streak camera), developed and manufactured at the General Physics Institute RAS, has been used to measure the spatiotemporal characteristics of ultrashort laser pulses generated by a petawatt-power laser installation ‘FEMTO’ at the Institute of Laser Physics Research in Sarov. It is found that such a camera is suitable for measuring the spatial and temporal parameters of single laser pulses with an accuracy of about one picosecond. It is shown that the intensity time profile of a train of picosecond pulses may be precisely defined for the pulses separated in time by a few picoseconds. The camera allows the contrast of radiation to be determined with a high (no less than ) accuracy; spatial distribution of the laser pulses can be measured with an accuracy of tens of microns, and the temporal separation of single laser pulses can be identified with an accuracy of .

The results of petawatt laser system development in RFNC–VNIIEF and preliminary experiments of laser‐matter interaction at intencity about 10 19 W/cm 2 are presented. (© 2013 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

We present results of experimental research carried out with the help of an acousto-optical light dispersive delay line (LDDL) on spectral correction of chirped laser pulses in a Nd-doped phosphate glass regenerative amplifier (RA) characterized by high gain (G approximate to 4 x 10(7)). The spectral resolution of the LDDL was equal to 1.1 cm(-1) at a diffraction efficiency greater than 80%. The use of the LDDL made it possible to implement operating conditions of the RA under which the duration of the output chirped pulse did not shorten in comparison with the duration of the input one, which meant that the width of the spectral emission could be preserved.

This section of the review discusses the main features of the construction of laser ceramic and how they affect the spectroscopic and lasing properties of the new material. The technology for obtaining a laser ceramic affects the processes that cause the ions of the rare-earth elements to be segregated and, as a consequence, affects their spectroscopic properties.

This section of this review discusses the main features of methods for producing a new laser materiala ceramic for the development of powerful next-generation solid-state lasers. A laser ceramic with a perfect crystalline structure and containing no impurities is virtually identical to microcrystals of the same composition in its spectral and laser characteristics. The main methods of synthesizing precursors for a laser ceramic and examples of the technological implementation of these methods are considered. (C) 2010 Optical Society of America.

A laser system that generates nano- and subnanosecond laser pulses with temporal and spectral profiling has been developed and experimentally tested The system's operating principle is based on selection of the spectral components in a device for stretching femtosecond laser pulses to a few nanoseconds and spectral ordering of the radiation (a stretcher) Laser pulses have been experimentally obtained with steep leading and trailing edges (less than 100 ps) The amplification of such pulses in a regenerative amplifier with a physical gain of 6 x 10(17) to an energy level of approximate to 5 mJ is investigated (C) 2010 Optical Society of America

200 TW peak power has been achieved experimentally using a Cr:forsterite master oscillator at 1250 nm, a stretcher, three optical parametrical amplifiers based on KD*P (DKDP) crystals providing 14.5 J energy in the chirped pulse at 910 nm central wavelength, and a vacuum compressor. The final parametrical amplifier and the compressor are described in detail. Scaling of such architecture to multipetawatt power is discussed.

Laser power of more than 100TW (70fs, 10J) has been achieved in experiments on optical parametric amplification of femtosecond pulses in KD*P crystals. Energy conversion efficiency of optical parametric amplifier is 27%.

In experiments on the parametrical amplification of femtosecond pulses in wide-aperture DKDP crystals, a power of more than 100 TW has been reached, which is much higher than the record level achieved in such lasers. The energy efficiency obtained for the parametric amplifier is equal to 27%. The energy of a 72-fs pulse is equal to 10 J.

In a three-cascade optical parametric chirp pulse amplifier based on KD*P crystal the pulse energy was 100mJ at 911nm wavelength. Computations show that adding two more parametrical amplifiers (100mm and 300mm diameter) will result in a multipetawatt laser.

The ultra-broadband phase matching was experimentally observed in a DKDP crystal upon parametric amplification of signal radiation with a wavelength of 911 nm in a pump field with a wavelength of 527 nm. The original scheme was used to excite the first parametric amplification stage by chirped pulses of idler radiation with a wavelength of 1250 nm. The saturated gain of a three-stage parametric amplifier was equal to 10 8 .

In 2001 a primary start-up of one channel of the four-channel "Luch" facility, a module of 128-channel facility has been realized. The facility intend for inertial confinement fusion. This paper presents the main results of work on creation and start-up of front-end system (FES) of "Luch" facility. The pulse of radiation with the energy up to 3 J and regulated pulse shape 1 - 10 ns in a square (36 x 36 mm2) beam was obtained at the output of FES.

In 2001 a primary start-up of one channel of the four-channel "Luch" facility, a module of 128-channel facility has 1,2 been realized. The facility intend for inertial confinement fusionThis paper presents the main results of work on creation and start-up of front-end system (FES) of "Luch" facility. The pulse of radiation with the energy up to 3 J and regulated pulse shape 1-10 ns in a square (36x36 mm(2)) beam was obtained at the output of FES.

The measuring technique is described and time-resolved measurements of the small-signal gain as a function of the pump energy in a disk amplification stage with neodymium phosphate glass active elements in the 'Luch' facility are presented. The distribution of the gain over the amplifier aperture in the horizontal plane is measured.

The present measurements of the components' surface resistance to laser-induced damage has been completed to facilitate development and construction of the “Luch” laser system, a four-channel Nd-phosphate glass laser with a full output energy of E = 14–16 kJ. The study describes a method that, with a series of experimental data obtained from a single sample, allows us not only to estimate the threshold fluences, but to take into account the statistical nature of the surface damage. In a number of experimental situations this method makes it possible to estimate damaging fluences even from the result of a single exposure of the studied surface. Estimated threshold fluences for various optical elements are presented: K8 glass, experimental phosphate laser glass KGSS-0180, high-reflecting and antireflecting thin-film coating of elements. The 1.054-μm radiation pulse with half-height duration of 4 ns and the irradiation spot of ∼4 mm in diameter were used in the experiment.

This paper describes a measurement technique and presents results for the surface radiation strength of an experimental neodymium-doped phosphate glass KGSS-0180. The samples were irradiated with radiation pulses at a wavelength of lambda = 1.054 mum with parameters close to those of the working regime of the planned multichannel laser system Iskra-6. The threshold breakdown energy density of the back surface of most of the samples of KGSS-0180 glass is close to that of K8 optical glass and lies within the limits 31 +/- 6 J/cm(2) when the irradiating pulsewidth is tau = 4 ns and 26 +/- 6 J/cm(2) for tau = 3 ns. (C) 2002 Optical Society of America.