Edge-pumped multi-slab amplifier for inertial fusion energy (IFE)

We proposed a novel laser amplifier for inertial fusion energy (IFE) based on an edge-pumped, gas-cooled multi-slab architecture. Compared to the face-pumped laser amplifiers for IFE, this architecture enables the pump, coolant and laser propagating orthogonally in the amplifier, thereby decoupling them in space and being beneficial to construction of the amplifier. To satisfy the high efficiency required for IFE, high-irradiance rectangle-waveguide coupled diode laser arrays are employed in the edge-pumped architecture and the pump light will be homogenized by total internal reflection. A traverse gradient doping profile is applied to the gain media, thus the pump absorption and gain uniformity can be separately optimized. Furthermore, the laser beam normal to the surfaces of the gas-cooled slabs will experience minimum thermal wavefront distortions in the amplifier head and ensure high beam quality. Since each slab has its own pump source and uniform gain in the aperture, power scaling can be easily achieved by placing identical slabs along the laser beam axis. Our investigations might provide an efficient and convenient way to design and optimize the amplifiers for IFE.