Scaling laser-diode pumped solid-state amplifiers to the petawatt level

Summary form only given. Increased performance of high-power laser-diodes, decline in laser-diode-power cost, development of new lasing materials, progress on key optical components, and novel pulse-compression techniques enable the design of efficient petawatt-class amplifiers based on diode-pumped chirped-pulse amplification technology. New research in high-field plasma physics, laser-pumped X-ray sources, laser fusion, particle accelerators and generators, as well as astro-physics is envisioned. We have developed laser-diode bars for long pulse pumping that deliver more than 200 W peak-power at almost 50% electrical to optical efficiency. Progress in semiconductor technology, heat-sink design, and diode packaging ensures safe pulsed operation for the required lifetime at driving currents of more than 220 A.. The system design of POLARIS (Petawatt Optical Laser Amplifier for Radiation Intensive Experiments) and supporting data is presented, and the prospects and scaleability of diode-pumped high-power laser-technology discussed. The front-end consisting of a Ti:sapphire oscillator, a low-aberration stretcher, and a regenerative amplifier delivers 1 mJ in 2 ns pulses with 14 nm band width centered at 1035 nm.