Design and characterization of the VULCAN Nd:glass laser to give focused intensities of greater than 1019 Wcm-2

The process of Chirped Pulse Amplification (CPA) as presently implemented on the VULCAN glass laser is capable of delivering 30 J to target with pulselengths in the sub- picosecond regime. Results from various experiments have shown that intensities of 1018 - 1019 W cm-2 have been achieved on target enabling users to carry out important new experiments in X-ray laser research, laser fusion, basic plasma physics and particle acceleration. An EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council) facility upgrade grant has been awarded to increase the current operational level of 35 TW, to over 200 TW. This upgrade forms Phase I of a two phase upgrade to raise the performance of VULCAN to the Petawatt level. This paper details the design of the upgraded system and describes a new interaction chamber which takes full advantage of the availability of synchronous kJ multi-beam long pulse operation on VULCAN with the CPA capabilities.© (1997) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.