Paving the way to the EuPRAXIA laser driver
The EuAPS infrastructure comprises a high repetition rate laser facility, which will be located at the National Institute of Optics of the Italian National Research Council (CNR) in Pisa. In particular, the High Repetition Rate Laser Beamline will feature an ultrashort, high average power laser system, with an unprecedented set of specifications including a 25fs pulse duration, 1J-level pulse energy and 100 Hz repetition rate, which will place the infrastructure at the forefront of current ultraintense and ultrashort laser technology.
The outstanding features of this laser system have been conceived to match the specifications of the front-end laser of the future system for the laser-driven site of EuPRAXIA and will be the ideal platform for R&D studies related to the high average power operation of future ultrashort lasers.
Figure. View of the ongoing infrastructure development at CNR-INO in Pisa in the framework of the Next Generation EU projects, showing the planned underground bunker and the location of the 100 Hz laser that operates in combination with the existing 220 TW laser currently operating at the ILIL Lab.
The outstanding features of this laser system have been conceived to match the specifications of the front-end laser of the future system for the laser-driven site of EuPRAXIA and will be the ideal platform for R&D studies related to the high average power operation of future ultrashort lasers.
The new laser infrastructure will be accessible via a dedicated user station, which will enable studies in different fields to be carried out, including, among others, laser optics, material science, medicine, and so on. In particular, even taking advantages from synergies with another ongoing infrastructure projects named IPHOQS, a dedicated underground, radiation shielded user area will be available, allowing investigations with high average flux of radiation to be carried out.
The research group leading this EuAPS work package, currently running the Intense Laser Irradiation Laboratory (ILIL) at CNR-INO Pisa, has a long term expertise in developing, operating and exploiting ultrashort and high power laser systems for ultraintense laser-plasma interaction. It has a leading role in the development, together with industrial partners, of the full laser system for the EuPRAXIA infrastructure and is also among the candidates for hosting the laser-driven site of the EuPRAXIA infrastructure
For further informations on science and technology with high power, high intensity lasers at CNR-INO visit the website ilil.ino.cnr.it
