High Power Subpicosecond KrF* Laser System

A subpicosecond KrF* laser system with a nearly diffration-limited beam and peak power on the order of 50 GW (capable of focusing to > 10¹⁷ W/cm') has been developed. The means of producing ultrashort seed pulses for the KrF* amplifier system are described. It is shown that efficient energy extraction is possible on a subpicosecond time scale and that deleterious effects such as optical damage and self-focusing do not limit the scaling of such a device to producing terawatt pulses in the 1 J energy range.