Abstract

The high-power KrF laser Sprite is at present in routine use as a single-beam target shooting facility. Although the present power is limited to 3 GW in 50 ns, the good beam quality of the injection-locked KrF oscillator allows target irradiances exceeding 10¹³ W cm^{- 2}. This irradiance is suitable for a number of applications, e.g., soft x-ray microscopy,¹ however for many applications, especially the study of laser/plasma interactions of interest to ICF, much higher irradiances are required.

© 1986 Optical Society of America