From Astronomy to Laser Labs: Real-Time Wavefront Correction at Apollon

The Apollon Ti:Sapphire laser system in France is designed to generate pulses of 300 J within 30 fs, reaching 10 PW peak power. The facility offers a vast range of experimental possibilities in two designated experimental areas. Yet, its beam quality is critically impaired by air turbulence, particularly in the 12-meter long final bowtie amplification stage, leading to intensity fluctuations that cannot be fully eliminated by beam housing.

Recognizing the deficit in real-time adaptive optics (AO) expertise within the high-intensity laser sector, we initiated a collaboration with the Subaru Coronagraphic Extreme Adaptive Optics (SCExAO) team. Their open-source, GPU based real-time AO software CACAO offers the flexibility to be adapted for the use in the high-intensity laser context.

At Apollon, we will use CACAO in conjunction with a continuous wave pilot beam, forming Apollon Real Time Adaptive Optics (ARTAO) system. This innovative setup is designed to operate at the kHz level, stabilizing the wavefront and thus enabling the delivery of laser pulses with a high spatial repeatability.

In this presentation, we will give an overview about the current state of the Apollon laser system, motivating the ARTAO project. Furthermore, we will briefly describe AO in astronomical telescopes and discuss the outcome of our knowledge transfer with the SCExAO team. Finally, we will discuss the design decisions behind the ARTAO system and share the current state and timeline of the project.