Development of diagnostics for high-energy petawatt pulses

Applications accessed by high energy petawatt (HEPW) lasers require complete, single-shot characterization of pulse spatial, temporal, and energy characteristics. We describe techniques that enable single-shot characterization of the temporal shape and pulse contrast of HEPW pulses with >10{sup 8} dynamic range over a ns-temporal window. Approaches to measure pulse durations that span two orders of magnitude will be discussed. Finally, we describe a novel implementation of spectrally dispersed two-beam interferometry for measurement of the phase difference between two HEPW pulses. This technique can be applied to dispersion and B-integral measurements in a HEPW system, as well as to achieve precise timing of nanosecond pulses. Lastly, spectrally dispersed interferometry represents an ideal technique to enable coherent addition of HEPW pulses for production of ultrahigh intensities.