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Contract Opportunity

Opportunity:

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), operated by the Lawrence Livermore National Security (LLNS), LLC under contract no. DE-AC52-07NA27344 (Contract 44) with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), is offering the opportunity to enter into a collaboration to further develop and commercialize its novel methods of forming transient optical components in a plasma medium for the manipulation of ultra-high power optical beams.

Background:

The demands that inertial fusion experiments place on their drivers have made the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) National Ignition Facility (NIF) the largest laser facility in the world, including the large final optics that direct each beam to the target. A future Inertial Fusion Energy (IFE) power plant will need to provide more laser energy at a dramatically increased repetition rate, which poses two challenges: the optical components of these driving lasers must either be larger or more damage resistant to support higher energy and must be able to withstand many more shots before replacement. Since we can expect significant debris, x-ray, neutron, and backscatter fluxes from the target, protecting the final laser optics is a substantial challenge. Any effort to make a more compact laser for delivering IFE-relevant energies to target will also require a fundamental change in optics technology.

Description:

This invention concerns a new type of optic: a transient gas or plasma volume grating produced indirectly by small secondary lasers or directly by nonlinear processes using the primary beams themselves. When used in conjunction with advantageously placed shielding it offers a means of protecting the final optical components of a high-repetition-rate IFE facility. These transmission optics are based on induced index of refraction modulation in a gas or plasma and can be used for beam steering and focusing. Critically, they are orders-of-magnitude more resistant to optical damage than glass, and, since they are reformed with each shot, are not affected by debris or radiation. As a secondary benefit, their short lifetime mean they act as fast optical shutters to protect upstream laser optics from all backscattering. Using plasma and gas gratings allows all solid-state optics to be removed from target line-of-sight, improving the resilience and lifetime of any future IFE facility.

Advantages/Benefits:

LLNL’s methods of forming transient optical components in a plasma medium for the manipulation of ultra-high power optical beams has numerous advantages over traditional fused silica-based optics, such as:

1. Transient ultra-high damage threshold transmission optical components created on the fly


2. Arbitrary optical functions can be configured dynamically on nanosecond timescales


3. Optical functions can be re-configured at high pulse repetition rates


4. Can act as fast optical shutter to protect upstream laser optics from all debris backscatter


5. Dramatically improves final optics lifetime in power plant operation by shielding them from debris and fusion reaction products

Potential Applications:

LLNL’s methods of forming transient optical components in a plasma medium for the manipulation of ultra-high power optical beams has numerous applications including:

• Laser inertial confinement fusion power plants


• Ultra-high power laser beam control

Development Status:

LLNL has filed for patent protection of this invention.

Current stage of technology development: TRL 2 (December 2022)

Experimental demonstrations of these proposed optics, although promising, have only been carried out at the proof-of-principle level, and substantial further effort will need to be made to demonstrate viability at scale.

LLNL is seeking industry partners with a demonstrated ability to bring such inventions to the market. Moving critical technology beyond the Laboratory to the commercial world helps our licensees gain a competitive edge in the marketplace. All licensing activities are conducted under policies relating to the strict nondisclosure of company proprietary information.

Please visit the IPO website at https://ipo.llnl.gov/resources for more information on working with LLNL and the industrial partnering and technology transfer process.

Note: THIS IS NOT A PROCUREMENT. Companies interested in commercializing LLNL's methods of forming transient optical components in a plasma medium for the manipulation of ultra-high power optical beams should provide a written statement of interest, which includes the following:

1. Company Name and address.

2. The name, address, and telephone number of a point of contact.

3. A description of corporate expertise and/or facilities relevant to commercializing this technology.

Written responses should be directed to:

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

Innovation and Partnerships Office

P.O. Box 808, L-779

Livermore, CA 94551-0808

Attention: IL-13725 and IL-13730

Please provide your written statement within thirty (30) days from the date this announcement is published to ensure consideration of your interest in LLNL's methods of forming transient optical components in a plasma medium for the manipulation of ultra-high power optical beams.

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