The Long Path laser was an early high energy
infrared
Infrared (IR), sometimes called infrared light, is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than those of visible light. It is therefore invisible to the human eye. IR is generally understood to encompass wavelengths from around ...
laser at the
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory used to study
inertial confinement fusion
Inertial confinement fusion (ICF) is a fusion energy process that initiates nuclear fusion reactions by compressing and heating targets filled with thermonuclear fuel. In modern machines, the targets are small spherical pellets about the size of ...
. Long path was completed in 1972 and was the first ICF laser ever to use
neodymium
Neodymium is a chemical element with the symbol Nd and atomic number 60. It is the fourth member of the lanthanide series and is considered to be one of the rare-earth metals. It is a hard, slightly malleable, silvery metal that quickly tarnishe ...
doped glass
Glass is a non-crystalline, often transparent, amorphous solid that has widespread practical, technological, and decorative use in, for example, window panes, tableware, and optics. Glass is most often formed by rapid cooling ( quenching ...
as the lasing medium. It was capable of delivering about 50
joules
The joule ( , ; symbol: J) is the unit of energy in the International System of Units (SI). It is equal to the amount of work done when a force of 1 newton displaces a mass through a distance of 1 metre in the direction of the force applied. ...
of light at 1,062
nm onto a target in ~10
ns pulses. It did not use
spatial filter
A spatial filter is an optical device which uses the principles of Fourier optics to alter the structure of a beam of light or other electromagnetic radiation, typically coherent laser light. Spatial filtering is commonly used to "clean up" the o ...
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.
See also
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Laser
A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word "laser" is an acronym for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation". The fi ...
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Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
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List of laser articles
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List of laser types
This is a list of laser types, their operational wavelengths, and their applications. Thousands of kinds of laser are known, but most of them are used only for specialized research.
Overview
Gas lasers
Chemical lasers
Used as directed-ener ...
External links
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Inertial confinement fusion research lasers
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
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