Long path laser
Encyclopedia
The Long Path laser was an early high energy infrared
laser at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
used to study inertial confinement fusion
. Long path was completed in 1972 and was the first ICF laser ever to use neodymium
doped glass
as the lasing medium. It was capable of delivering about 50 joules of light at 1,062 nm onto a target in ~10 ns
pulses. It did not use spatial filter
s to smooth the beam after amplification stages and thus had a fairly poor beam quality. Long path was mostly used to investigate laser energy absorption in deuterated plastic targets.
Infrared
Infrared light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength longer than that of visible light, measured from the nominal edge of visible red light at 0.74 micrometres , and extending conventionally to 300 µm...
laser at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory , just outside Livermore, California, is a Federally Funded Research and Development Center founded by the University of California in 1952...
used to study 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....
. Long path was completed in 1972 and was the first ICF laser ever to use neodymium
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
Glass
Glass is an amorphous solid material. Glasses are typically brittle and optically transparent.The most familiar type of glass, used for centuries in windows and drinking vessels, is soda-lime glass, composed of about 75% silica plus Na2O, CaO, and several minor additives...
as the lasing medium. It was capable of delivering about 50 joules of light at 1,062 nm onto a target in ~10 ns
Nanosecond
A nanosecond is one billionth of a second . One nanosecond is to one second as one second is to 31.7 years.The word nanosecond is formed by the prefix nano and the unit second. Its symbol is ns....
pulses. It did not use spatial filter
Spatial filter
A spatial filter is an optical device which uses the principles of Fourier optics to alter the structure of a beam of coherent light or other electromagnetic radiation. Spatial filtering is commonly used to "clean up" the output of lasers, removing aberrations in the beam due to imperfect, dirty,...
s to smooth the beam after amplification stages and thus had a fairly poor beam quality. Long path was mostly used to investigate laser energy absorption in deuterated plastic targets.