Diode-pumped Nd:YLF master oscillator for the 30-kJ (UV), 60-beam OMEGA laser facility

The operational conditions of the OMEGA laser system require an extremely reliable and low-maintenance master oscillator. We have developed a diode-pumped, single-frequency, pulsed Nd:YLF laser for this application. The laser generates Q-switched pulses of /spl sim/160-ns duration and /spl sim/10-/spl mu/J energy content at the 1053-nm wavelength with low amplitude fluctuation, (<0.6% rms) and low temporal (build-up time) jitter (<7-ns rms). Amplitude and frequency feedback stabilization systems have been used for high long-term amplitude and frequency stability.