After aligning the beam transport with the HeNe up to B6 and overlapping the IR with the HeNe (see Beam transport (automated) for instructions), the IR has to be pointed through the compressor chamber and into/through the picnic basket.
IR refers here to either the attenuated 


Precautions/preparations:

  • For alignment use either the attenuated pulsed beam or the CW (fibre laser)
  • The axicon has to be driven out (to avoid focusing on foils)
  • The E320 OAP assembly should be driven out (to avoid breaking down air)


To enable decent fitting and balance light levels, the recommended iris size for this alignment is 20 mm. Alignment references and mirrors are found here Laser cameras and alignment references

  1. Align CompNear and Far
  2. Align to PBNear and Far

In both cases, some iterations are required. Note that PBNear and Far converge particularly slowly and need some iterations.


Once the IR is aligned to those two sets of two references, the beam is entering the PB at a defined vector. 
Driving M2 either onto the e-beam axis or the E320 position should bring the beam closely to references on diagnostics.

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