Quick Shot

The Infrared OMEGA Transport Instrumentation System (IR-OTIS) is a recently commissioned power balance diagnostic on the OMEGA Laser System. It is used to measure the transmission through each section of the 60 beamlines, identify transmission losses, and track IR transmission over time. Power balance requires equal gain and equal losses across each amplifier stage of the laser. Previous IR transmission measurements involved a procedure called “The March of the Calorimeters,” where a set of rover calorimeters were deployed at 270 locations on OMEGA and full system shots were taken. This was a time and labor-intensive process that required a full shot crew for the multiple shot days, plus additional technicians to set up and reposition the calorimeters. With the new system, 471 locations are sampled in the OMEGA Laser Bay with IR-OTIS during maintenance time using the IRAT (infrared alignment table) laser, by two staff working eight shifts.