High Energy, High Repetition Rate DPSSL Development at Rutherford Appleton Labs, UK

Next generation laser facilities will not only offer high pulse energies but also high repetition rates to explore the full parameter space for an experiment. High energy diode pumped solid state lasers (typically in ns) are pivotal to the development of applications like advanced materials processing and laser shock peening as well as high energy density (HED) physics experiments. They can also be used as pumps for ultra-intensity fs petawatt-class lasers. In this talk, I will present the development of the high energy, high repetition rate DPSSL at the Rutherford Appleton Labs, UK. A scalable Diode Pumped Optical Laser for Experiments (DiPOLE) concept was developed based on multi-slab, cryogenic gas cooled Yb:YAG amplifier and a small-scale prototype capable of generating 10J at 10Hz was demonstrated. Recently, energy up-scaling up to 105J, 10Hz was demonstrated for extended periods confirming the viability of the DiPOLE concept. This laser will be made available to users of the high energy density (HED) instrument at the European XFEL in Germany. Further, high energy frequency up-conversion in visible (515 nm and 343 nm) will also be presented.