High Intensity Laser Applications: Space Prospective

An overview of the trends in industrial ultra-short pulse laser applications for potential use in space applications is described. Over the last N=20 years, the average laser power of ultra-short sub-l ps lasers have followed the trajectory of Moore’s law, Power$\approx 2^{N/2}$, doubling every two years. This was achieved via higher repetition rates, burst mode of operation, miniaturisation of the light amplification volume in the active solid state crystal, its efficient cooling, and optical pumping. Material processing at ~ 10PW/cm
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intensities when ionisaiton is dominated by tunneling mechanism can be realised at space (no air) conditions. Laser induced breakdown plasmas can be utilised for THz and soft X-ray (less than 10 keV) emission as well as wake fields for electron acceleration sources. These techniques need vacuum and their development at the normal Earth conditions have additional technological challenges and applicability limitations as compared with space.