ABSTRACT
Inertial confinement fusion requirements challenge the capabilities of laser designers to generate ultra-high-power irradiation conditions on microscopic targets with exquisite uniformity at the lowest possible cost. While a very large number of activator ions and host media have the potential of possible use in solid-state lasers, neodymium in a glass matrix is the only solid-state laser system that has been scaled to the very high energy and power required for inertial fusion research. The rod amplifier is the earliest type of solid-state amplifier and is still widely used in most Nd:glass laser systems. In the late 1960s, a number of face-pumped glass amplifiers were developed at General Electric to overcome some of the intrinsic difficulties of rod amplifiers in high-repetition-rate laser systems. The characteristics of active-mirror amplifiers make them attractive for high-average-power, high-efficiency laser systems. The ability to pump two units with one set of flash lamps nearly doubles the flash-lamp pumping efficiency.
