The OMEGA laser electronic timing system

A high-precision, computer-controlled electronic timing system has been built for the OMEGA inertial confinement fusion laser. The timing system consists of five modular subcomponents and is easily expandable to produce any number of delay channels. The timing from the system is synchronized by a distributed clock, which is derived from the radio-frequency-signal that drives the mode-locked laser master oscillator. The system produces IEEE RS-170 television synchronization signals and several subfrequencies for operating different parts of the laser. Performance of the system and cost will be discussed. copyright 1997 American Institute of Physics