Abstract
The progress in development of high-power glass laser systems during the past 30 years is remarkable NIF (National Ignition Facility), which will deliver 1.8 MJ at 0.35 μm is now construction in the United States. Recently, technology that smoothes out the focal pattern has been developed to a great extent. RPP (Random Phase Plate) and PCL (Partially Coherent Laser) both gave an excellent focal pattern with standard deviation of 3% in the Gekko XII laser system. In the US, Japan and Europe, several ultra-short pulse lasers were developed for research on “fast ignition”. “Fast ignition” is a method which will reduce the total required laser energy for ignition. Because a diode-pumped, solid state laser can operate at a repetition rate of over 10 Hz with an efficiency of about 10% research area of high-power systems at the 1 kW level started to focus on the development of a driver for a commercial laser fusion reactor.
