Spectrum-tailored random fiber laser towards ICF laser facility

Abstract

Broadband low-coherence light is considered to be an effective way to suppress laser plasma instability. Recent studies have demonstrated the ability of low-coherence laser facilities to reduce back-scattering during beam–target coupling. However, to ensure simultaneous low coherence and high energy, complex spectral modulation methods and amplification routes have to be adopted. In this work, we propose the use of a random fiber laser (RFL) as the seed source. The spectral features of this RFL can be carefully tailored to provide a good match with the gain characteristics of the laser amplification medium, thus enabling efficient amplification while maintaining low coherence. First, a theoretical model is constructed to give a comprehensive description of the output characteristics of the spectrum-tailored RFL, after which the designed RFL is experimentally realized as a seed source. Through precise pulse shaping and efficient regenerative amplification, a shaped random laser pulse output of 28 mJ is obtained, which is the first random laser system with megawatt-class peak power that is able to achieve low coherence and efficient spectrum-conformal regenerative amplification.