GEKKO XII
Encyclopedia
GEKKO XII is a high-power 12-beam neodymium
-doped glass laser
at the Osaka University
's Institute for Laser Engineering (大阪大学レーザーエネルギー学研究センター) completed in 1983, which is used for high energy density physics and inertial confinement fusion
research. The name refers to the twelve individual beamlines used to amplify the laser energy.
Unlike most other modern ICF lasers which are frequency tripled to the third harmonic, the GEKKO XII is only frequency doubled to 532 nm (green light). Compared to most Nd:glass laser ICF experiments GEKKO is also quite small, with beamlines about 10 m long. The 12 beams of the GEKKO laser are capable of delivering about 10 kilojoules per 1-2 ns pulse (10-20 terawatts).
In 1996-1997 the GEKKO system was upgraded with a ~0.4 kJ, 0.5 PW ultra-short pulse beam which was used to investigate a promising new technique of ICF known as "fast ignition", where the compression phase of target implosion is decoupled from the heating phase. GEKKO, using the petawatt beam for heating, along with the original beams for compression, demonstrated a fusion yield enhancement of 3 orders of magnitude when the petawatt beam was used.
GEKKO is currently being upgraded with the addition of a second "side-by-side" laser, the LFEX (Laser for Fast Ignition Experiment), part of the FIREX-1 program, in order to deliver a 10 kJ pulse of energy to a target in 10 picoseconds, further exploring the fast ignition regime.
Neodymium
Neodymium is a chemical element with the symbol Nd and atomic number 60. It is a soft silvery metal that tarnishes in air. Neodymium was discovered in 1885 by the Austrian chemist Carl Auer von Welsbach. It is present in significant quantities in the ore minerals monazite and bastnäsite...
-doped glass laser
Laser
A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of photons. The term "laser" originated as an acronym for Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation...
at the Osaka University
Osaka University
, or , is a major national university located in Osaka, Japan. It is the sixth oldest university in Japan as the Osaka Prefectural Medical College, and formerly one of the Imperial Universities of Japan...
's Institute for Laser Engineering (大阪大学レーザーエネルギー学研究センター) completed in 1983, which is used for high energy density physics and inertial confinement fusion
Inertial confinement fusion
Inertial confinement fusion is a process where nuclear fusion reactions are initiated by heating and compressing a fuel target, typically in the form of a pellet that most often contains a mixture of deuterium and tritium....
research. The name refers to the twelve individual beamlines used to amplify the laser energy.
Unlike most other modern ICF lasers which are frequency tripled to the third harmonic, the GEKKO XII is only frequency doubled to 532 nm (green light). Compared to most Nd:glass laser ICF experiments GEKKO is also quite small, with beamlines about 10 m long. The 12 beams of the GEKKO laser are capable of delivering about 10 kilojoules per 1-2 ns pulse (10-20 terawatts).
In 1996-1997 the GEKKO system was upgraded with a ~0.4 kJ, 0.5 PW ultra-short pulse beam which was used to investigate a promising new technique of ICF known as "fast ignition", where the compression phase of target implosion is decoupled from the heating phase. GEKKO, using the petawatt beam for heating, along with the original beams for compression, demonstrated a fusion yield enhancement of 3 orders of magnitude when the petawatt beam was used.
GEKKO is currently being upgraded with the addition of a second "side-by-side" laser, the LFEX (Laser for Fast Ignition Experiment), part of the FIREX-1 program, in order to deliver a 10 kJ pulse of energy to a target in 10 picoseconds, further exploring the fast ignition regime.