Research of time fiducial and imaging VISAR laser for Shenguang-III laser facility

Time fiducial laser is an important tool for the precise measurement in high energy density physics experiments. The VISAR probe laser is also vital for shock wave diagnostics in ICF experiments. Here, time fiducial laser and VISAR light were generated from one source on SG-III laser facility. After generated from a 1064-nm DFB laser, the laser is modulated by an amplitude modulator driven by 10 GS/s arbitrary waveform generator. Using time division multiplexing technology, the ten-pulse time fiducial laser and the 20-ns VISAR pulse were split by a 1×2 multiplexer and then chosen by two acoustic optic modulators. Using the technique, cost of the system was reduced. The technologies adopted in the system also include pulse polarization stabilization, high precision fiber coupling and energy transmission. The time fiducial laser generated synchronized 12-beam 2ω and 4-beam 3ω laser, providing important reference marks for different detectors and making it convenient for the analysis of diagnostic data. After being amplified by fiber amplifiers and Nd:YAG rod amplifiers, the VISAR laser pulse was frequency-converted to 532-nm pulse by a thermally controlled LBO crystal with final output energy larger than 20 mJ. Finally, the green light was coupled into a 1-mm core diameter, multimode fused silica optical fiber and propagated to the imaging VISAR. The VISAR laser has been used in the VISAR diagnostic physics experiments. Shock wave loading and slowdown processes were measured. Function to measure velocity history of shock wave front movement in different kinds of materials was added to the SG-III laser facility.