Extreme photonics applications centre: high energy DPSSL pump for a 10 Hz PW-level laser

Abstract

The Extreme Photonics Applications Centre is an upcoming state-of-the-art research facility under construction at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in the United Kingdom. It will deliver petawatt pulses at an unprecedented rate of 10 Hz, made possible by pumping titanium-doped sapphire gain medium with a diode-pumped solid state laser (DPSSL) based on the Central Laser Facility’s cryogenic DiPOLE technology. We will briefly present the DPSSL pump design and its incorporation into the wider PW system, reporting on the most up-todate commissioning status and results of the DPSSL pump laser, which is on target to be fully commissioned by summer 2023.