Coherent stacking of laser pulses in a high-Q optical cavity for accelerator applications

Abstract

We have performed the harmonic analysis of the steady-state coherent pulse-stacking process in a high-Q Fabry-Perot cavity. The expression for the stacked pulse shape is obtained as a function of both the laser cavity and pulse-stacking cavity parameters. We have also estimated the pulse power gains attainable in the laser-optical system of NESTOR storage ring, which is under development at Kharkov Institute of Physics and Technology. It is shown that high power gains (~10000) can be, in principle, achieved in a cavity, formed with low-absorption, high reflectivity (R~0.9999) mirrors, if the laser carrier frequency will be matched to the second harmonic frequency of the pulse-stacking cavity. This means a development of the sophisticated frequency stabilization loop for maintaining the cavity length constant within a sub-nanometer range.