Conference Agenda

On December 5, 2022, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s (LLNL) National Ignition Facility (NIF) made history, demonstrating fusion ignition for the first time in a laboratory setting. NIF produced 3.15 megajoules (MJ) of fusion energy output using 2.05 MJ of laser energy delivered to the target, demonstrating the fundamental science basis for inertial fusion energy. In this presentation, the major large optic technology advancements that have enabled NIF today to routinely operate at now 2.2MJ, further aiding ignition experiments, are discussed. In addition, latest developments on fabrication processing science to aid in fabricating complex freeform optics with high precision for use in various laser systems are discussed.

U.S. Department of Energy by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under Contract DE-AC52-07NA27344. LLNL-ABS-XXXXX

The laser-induced damage resistance of large optical components remains an important limitation for the maintenance costs, reliability, and further development of high energy/high-power (HE/HP) laser systems. With numerous manufacturers providing different laser-induced damage threshold (LIDT) values in the nanosecond regime, a simple ranking based on numbers alone may not provide a clear picture of the best choice. Variations in testing procedures, albeit following the ISO 21254 standard, further complicate the selection process. By employing a comprehensive 1-on-1 test procedure, it becomes possible to observe various parameters that influence LIDT values. An overview on how the laser beam size, the spectral characteristics of the tested optic and possible contamination of the surface are influencing the LIDT values will be presented.

The performance of an optical component or surface might quicky be limited by light scattering induced by the surface and coating roughness, as well as imperfections and contaminations. On the other hand, the scattered light contains valuable information about its source, which makes scattering based techniques powerful characterization tools for these important features. A major advantage is the fast, robust, and contact free measurement approach enabling even close-to process applications. Based on several examples we demonstrate the potential of light scattering characterization during the fabrication process up to even in-situ coating inspection.

NSOS-alpha is a 1.5-m aperture, F/1.55, wide field prime focus telescope for the Korea Astronomy & Space Science Institute (KASI) to discover and catalogue near-Earth asteroids, especially Potentially Hazardous Asteroids. Among the different optical designs, the current baseline is based onto a design with reduced sensitivities to both manufacturing and alignment tolerances, to optimize as-built performances instead of reducing nominal aberrations only. Different optimization techniques have been used and compared. As result, a fast and effective optimization procedure has been identified and implemented, and it will be used also during the manufacturing process to improve overall performance.