Laser Driven Subnanosecond Blast Shutter

M. A. Duguay; M. A. Palmer; R. E. Palmer

doi:10.1117/12.955129

18 January 1977 Laser Driven Subnanosecond Blast Shutter

M. A. Duguay, M. A. Palmer, R. E. Palmer

Proceedings Volume 0094, High Speed Optical Techniques: Developments and Applications; (1977) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.955129
Event: 20th Annual Technical Symposium, 1976, San Diego, United States

Abstract

We have measured the opening time of the so-called "blast shutter", presently used as an isolator in high-power laser systems. The shutter consists of a 275 A thick aluminum film deposited on a transparent plastic film 12 4 thick. The aluminum film is suddenly removed by exposing it to high-power pulses from a Nd:glass laser (X = 1.06 4). We have used pulses 50 ps in duration that delivered between 0.5 and 3 J/cm2 of energy onto the aluminum film. The absorbed energy superheats the film and turns it into a rapidly expanding cloud of aluminum vapor. A blue laser beam from a CW argon laser passes through the shutter and is detected by an ultrafast streak camera, set for 50 ps resolution. With this arrangement 10-90% shutter opening times varying from 0.8 to 4 ns have been measured, the former occurring at laser pulse energy densities of ≈ 2 J/cm2.

Citation Download Citation

M. A. Duguay, M. A. Palmer, and R. E. Palmer "Laser Driven Subnanosecond Blast Shutter", Proc. SPIE 0094, High Speed Optical Techniques: Developments and Applications, (18 January 1977); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.955129

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