This page contains a list ofpetawatt-levellasers in operation, under construction, or proposed. The list is compiled from existing academic reviews.[1][2]
A petawatt laser is typically defined as a laser system whose pulse energy divided by its pulse duration reaches an order of magnitude of 1015 W, or 1 petawatt. These high-power laser pulses are capable of driving a strongelectromagnetic field, giving rise to a number of novel applications. For instance, focusing large numbers of petawatt level lasers on a target containingdeuterium andtritium creates enough energy density to driveinertial confinement fusion. Another potential application is using strong electric fields from petawatt laser pulses to drive steep density gradient structures in aplasma, which then creates field gradients capable of accelerating particles in a much shorter distance thanlinac; such concept is known aslaser wakefield acceleration.
Generation of a petawatt laser pulse requires the pulse duration to be extremely short: to reach 1 petawatt of power, a 1 joule laser pulse will require a duration of <1 fs (< 10−15 seconds). All petawatt systems use the technique ofchirped pulse amplification, which amplifies chirped, temporally stretched laser pulses before compressing them into femtosecond, ultra-high intensity pulses. For laser systems with large pulse energies,Nd:glass is typically used as again medium, as they can be grown into very large crystals. For laser pulses with duration near the femtosecond range,Ti:Sapphire is widely used to take advantage of its wide lasing spectrum; only such lasers can be compressed into ultrashort pulses, due toFourier relations between the temporal and spectral widths of the pulse signal.
^Gaul, Erhard W.; et al. (2010). "Demonstration of a 1.1 petawatt laser based on a hybrid optical parametric chirped pulse amplification/mixed Nd:glass amplifier".Applied Optics.49 (9):1676–1681.Bibcode:2010ApOpt..49.1676G.doi:10.1364/AO.49.001676.PMID20300167.
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