The Nd: Yag Laser
The Nd:YAG laser is located in a class 100 clean room (the YAG Room)
near the electron gun end of the ATF accelerator. The clean area also
includes a separate laser laboratory area for laser development projects.Next
to the YAG Room is the "Gun Hutch", containing UV
optics for control of the light on the photocathode of the gun.The
Nd:YAg laser is operated in a linear amplifier mode, giving it a unique
Pulse Train Mode. For certain experiments, like
the FEL Oscillator Experiment, the YAG laser can deliver a pulse
train with a pulse separation of 12.5 or 25 nanoseconds with a nearly
arbitrary modulation.
Nd:YAG Drive Laser Functions
- Generates primary facility user resources: -high brightness electron beam
-high power CO2 laser pulses.
- Timing: time structure & synchronization of above to one another and other facility equipment (i.e. delay generators, data acquisition, diagnostics).
- Diagnostics pulses for experiments: e.g. Ion generation plasma density interferometry.
- Cathode cleaning, detector characterization, optical timing fiducial, etc.
Nd:YAG System Parameters
|
Energy: (triple pulse mode)
|
|
Transverse Distribution:
|
|
|
UV on cathode
|
0-30 mJ x 1 pulse
|
Range of beam size on cathode (Ø)
|
0.2 - 3 mm
|
|
IR to CO2laser
|
10 mJ x 2 pulses
|
Top-Hat Beam Profile Modulation (P-P)
|
<50%
|
Laser output: total IR |
30 mJ |
|
|
IR to gun |
7.5 mJ |
Repetition rate |
1.5, 3 Hz |
Green |
2.5 mJ |
|
|
UV |
500 mJ |
Shot-to-shot stability (rms): |
|
|
|
Timing |
<0.2 ps |
Energy: (pulse train mode) IR |
~100 mJ / 20 pulses |
Energy |
<0.8 % |
|
|
Pointing (fraction of beam Ø)
|
<0.3%
|
|
Pulse duration (FWHM):
|
|
|
|
Oscillator IR |
7 ps |
Drift (8 hour P-P) |
|
Amplified IR |
14 ps |
Timing |
<15ps |
Green |
10 ps |
Energy |
<5% |
UV |
8 ps |
Pointing (fraction of beam Ø) |
<1% |
Facility - Laser Interaction

Last Modified: November 14, 2012 Please forward all questions about this site to:
Christina Swinson
|