The Procyon system in the Los Alamos Trailmaster foil implosion project is intended to produce soft x-ray radiation by delivering about 1 MJ of kinetic energy to an imploding plasma liner. The final switching stage of this system will be a Plasma Flow Switch (PFS) which delivers current to the cylindrical foil load. 1-D and 2-D simulations are now being conducted to examine: the initiation of the PFS plasma: the dynamics of the PFS and its switching efficiency; the load implosion and resulting radiation output. Considered here, for the PFS and imploding load, are the effects of electrode walls, perturbations, and radiation. Comparisons with experiments (using the 1.5 MJ Pegasus capacitor bank) are also described. 5 refs., 6 figs.

A system and method for monitoring the output of a laser is provided in which the output of a photodiode disposed in the cavity of the laser is used to provide a correlated indication of the laser power. The photodiode is disposed out of the laser beam to view the extraneous light generated in the laser cavity whose intensity has been found to be a direct correlation of the laser beam output power level. Further, the system provides means for monitoring the phase of the laser output beam relative to a modulated control signal through the photodiode monitor.

A system and method for monitoring the output of a laser is provided in which the output of a photodiode disposed in the cavity of the laser is used to provide a correlated indication of the laser power. The photodiode is disposed out of the laser beam to view the extraneous light generated in the laser cavity whose intensity has been found to be a direct correlation of the laser beam output power level. Further, the system provides means for monitoring the phase of the laser output beam relative to a modulated control signal through the photodiode monitor.