AQWEST, LLC — Department of Energy SBIR Phase II: 22a

Description

Aqwest LLC proposes to further develop a "Front End" laser for an advanced inertial fusion energy (IFE) laser driver, integrate it with final amplifier (FA) modules developed by Aqwest for the Department of Energy (DOE), and conduct a parametric test evaluation.The development and commercialization of IFE is impeded by the lack of efficient and economical laser driver.IFE offers to tap almost unlimited sources of inexpensive energy.This new energy source would free the U.S.from the dependence on hydrocarbon fuels, the use of which produces green-house gases.The proposed development and testing of the Front End with the FA modules would greatly advance the IFE maturity and its transition to commercial generation of electricity.In Phase I, we created a concept for “front end laser” for test the advanced FA module developed by Aqwest under a separate DOE grant DE-SC0011916.The “Front End” and the FA modules use Aqwest’s innovative edge pumped disk laser (EPDL) technology for generation powerful laser pulses at high-average power.In Phase II, we developed the developed the Front End hardware for pulse injection into the FA module.The Front End comprises a nanosecond-class seed laser and a joule-class preamplifier.A second FA module has been constructed.Integration of the Front End and the FA module integrated verification testing has been initiated.In Phase IIA, we will complete the integration of the “front end” with the “driver modules” and operate the integrated system to test-verify the EPDL technology.The integrated system will also deliver one of the most energetic laser beams in the US.This result will be directly applicable to the new generation of high-intensity / petawatt lasers now under development for high-energy density plasma (HEDP) applications including laser acceleration, astrophysics, medicine, and security.As petawatt lasers become affordable for universities and commercial laboratories, the U.S.would be able to maintain its physics leadership.In commercial applications, the EPDL technology offers to supplant the German-made thin disk laser, which has been the dominant technology for laser material processing for the last 10 years.