3ω transmitted beam diagnostic at the Omega Laser Facility

The laser light from a single beam transmitted through a plasma is collected by a 3w transmitted beam diagnostic which is now operational on the Omega Laser Facility at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics, University of Rochester [Soures et al., Laser. Part. Beams 11, 317 (1993)]. Transmitted laser light from Beam 30 is collected by a focusing mirror and directed onto a diagnostic platform. The near field of the transmitted light is imaged; the system collects information from twice the original f cone of the beam. Two gated cameras capture the near field image of the transmitted light. The evolution of the beam spray is resolved temporally at 13 spatial positions around the near field. The forward stimulated Raman scattering and forward simulated Brillouin scattering are resolved spectrally and temporally at five independent locations within twice the original f cone. The total transmitted energy is measured in two spectral regions above and below 400 nm. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.