Free-electron lasers as pumps for high-energy solid-state lasers

High average-power free-electron lasers may be useful for pumping high peak-power solid-state laser-amplifiers. At very high peak-powers, the pump source for solid-state lasers is non-trivial: flash lamps produce thermal problems and are unsuitable for materials with short florescence-times, while diodes can be expensive and are only available at select wavelengths. FELs can provide pulse trains of light tuned to a laser material's absorption peak, and florescence lifetime. An FEL pump can thus minimize thermal effects and potentially allow for new laser materials to be used. This paper examines the design of a high average-power, efficient high-gain FEL for use as pump source. Specifically, the cases of a 100J class pump, and a 100 TW-class laser at a planned fourth-generation light-source are considered. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.