Laser-Driven Compression Efficiency and Wavelength

1977:

On 7 March 1977, Physical Review Letters published a paper by R. L. McCrory of the Laboratory for Laser Energetics and R. L. Morse of the University of Arizona showing that the efficiency with which absorbed laser energy causes a given spherical implosion increases by a factor of 3 to 5 if the laser wavelength is decreased from the infrared wavelengths to the blue or near-ultraviolet. This finding was key in the thrust to develop high-efficiency frequency conversion for high-power Nd:glass fusion lasers.

Shown here is a scaling of hydrodynamic efficiency from the article, R. L. McCrory and R. L. Morse, “Dependence of Laser-Driven Compression Efficiency on Wavelength,” Phys. Rev. Lett. 38 (10) 544–547 (1977).