ELI Beamlines Develops a High-power HAPLS Laser Beam Transport System

ELI Beamlines

The ELI Beamlines Facility is a leading laser research center and part of ELI (Extreme Light Infrastructure) pan-European Research Infrastructure hosting the world’s most intense lasers. ELI provides unique tools of support for scientific excellence in Europe. ELI Beamlines developed and operates four leading-edge high-power femtosecond laser systems reaching unprecedented intensities. ELI Beamlines offers its users unique femtosecond sources of X-rays and accelerated particles. These beamlines enable pioneering research not only in physics and material science but also in life science, laboratory astrophysics, and chemistry with strong application potential.

Currently, several of the main laser beamlines are operational and are being expanded and upgraded to reach their full performance and maximum availability. Other laser beamlines are in commissioning and new cutting-edge laser sources are in the design and development phase. The ELI Beamlines Facility builds on 320 researchers, engineers, and other professionals from more than 25 countries.

ELI Beamlines’ latest advancement is its High-repetition-rate Advanced Petawatt Laser System (HAPLS). HAPLS is the first diode-pumped and highest average power petawatt system (300 W, 10 Hz repetition rate) ever built. HAPLS can achieve focused intensities between 1021-1023 watts per square centimeter, the equivalent of all sunlight as it arrives at the earth being focused to the diameter of a human hair. Achieving the extreme high-power, short-pulse features of HAPLS required rigorous design validation and highly nuanced beam propagation capabilities.

The success of ELI Beamlines’ projects generates ongoing high-funding stability for both the organization and related organizations. This, combined with the precision and unprecedented capabilities its technologies afford to other scientists, make it crucial for ELI Beamlines to build systems efficiently and practically. This ensures collaborators can work together effectively and their discoveries are brought to the rest of the community in timely and impactful ways.Using OpticStudio, the team modeled phase-to-amplitude modulations during beam propagation to experimental chambers, where the beam is focused up to 100 meters of propagation with off-axis parabolas. OpticStudio was then used to assess intensity modulations, as well as to predict acceptable phase errors as the new HAPLS system was commissioned.