ELFIE is a highly versatile and manageable facility coupling a fully-equipped experimental room with a Ti:Sa/mixed glass laser system based on the chirped pulse amplification (CPA) technique.
From October 2010, its laser beam configuration will be the one of the previous 100TW facility. A main ultra-intense vacuum-compressed beam (up to 30J in typically 0.3ps at ω or 1.06 ¦Ìm) is optically synchronized with a ~60J / 600ps uncompressed chirped pulse, an auxiliary 30TW (10J / 0.3ps) air-compressed beam and a 100mJ short (0.3ps) probe beam to, for instance, pre-form long-scale length plasmas and unique pump-probe experiments using laser-accelerated proton beams or short duration x-ray backlighters. Frequency conversion (2ω - 3ω on the probe) is implemented on all the beams.
In 2011, thanks to an additional 100J amplifying stage, a second 100TW vacuum-compressed beam will be available.
?
Shot-to-shot reliability (at a repetition rate of 1 shot every 20 minutes) and good focused beam quality is ensured through an adaptive-optics closed-loop system.
LULI2000 is one of the most energetic laser facilities in Europe: it consists of two experimental areas and a laser hall containing 2 high-power single pulse neodymium glass laser chains. Each beam can deliver up to 1kJ at ω in 1.5ns square pulses (nano2000). Pulse duration [from 0.5 to 5ns - rise time ~150ps], beam delay [¡À10ns] and angle can be readily adjusted. 2ω and 3ω (upon request) are available. The repetition rate is limited to 1 shot every 90 minutes (4-5 full-energy shots per day), but a 10Hz laser beam allows fast diagnostics alignment.
Implementation of the chirped pulsed amplification technique on one of the 2 kJ laser chains authorizes operation in the ps regime (pico2000). This unique combination of high-energy and high-power laser pulses then opens the route to innovative physics. However, in order to avoid any grating damage, pico2000 will only be allowed to deliver pulses up to ~150-200J in 1 ps.
Finally, one additional moderately energetic beam (up to 80J in the ns regime) and a probe beam (a few mJ in 1 ps) are available to increase the laser-based diagnostic (Thomson scattering, off-axis/on-axis radiography ¡) capabilities of the facility.
The LULI2000/nano2000 and the LULI2000/pico2000 configurations are fixed according the diagrams below for 2011.
| ? |  |
 |
Do not hesitate to contact access.luli@polytechnique.fr for any further information