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UHI10 laser facility

The UHI10 laser facility is one of the most powerful ultrashort lasers available in France. Using the Chirped Pulsed Amplification in Titanium-Sapphire scheme, it combines ultrashort pulse duration (65 fs) and very intense peak power (10TW). The operating wavelength is 800 nm, the repetition rate is 10 Hz and the beam diameter is 80 mm. The compression is performed in a vacuum chamber directly connected to the experiment chamber in order to avoid spatial and temporal distortion of the beam. The temporal contrast has been measured with the high dynamic 3^rd order correlator available in the laboratory; its value is 10^-5 at 5 ps. Off axis parabola are used to focus the beam on the target. Their available focal lengths range from 200 mm to 500 mm. Intensities up to 10¹⁹ W/cm² have been obtained with the 200 mm parabola. The laser can be operated at his nominal repetition rate or in a single shot mode. In this latter case, the pulse duration and energy can be monitored for each shot. A 3 mJ, 65 fs line, synchronised with the main beam, is also available for plasma probing purpose. A solid target holder or a high pressure gas jet can be mounted in the experiment chamber in order to generate various kinds of plasmas (over or undercritical).

Contact:
P. MONOT
CEA/DRECAM/SPAM
CE Saclay 91191 Gif Sur Yvette
Tel: 33 (0)169082113
pmonot@cea.fr