Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of the setup showing relevant elements used during the tests: G1–G4, large size gratings of the compressor; M1, leaky mirror; M2 and M3, steering mirrors; WP, high optical quality vacuum viewport; BS, beam splitter; ENERGY, energy-meter; WIZZLER, self-referencing spectral interferometer.

Fig. 2. Picture of the 10 PW beam dump installed for this experiment at the end of the transport line.

Fig. 3. Spectrum and spectral phase measured using the Wizzler.

Fig. 4. Temporal profile of the pulse measured using the Wizzler. The limits used to compute the energy ratio contained under the main peak are indicated with blue dashed lines. A total of 88% of the energy is contained in the main peak.

Fig. 5. Power evolution during the 10 PW demonstration. Pulses were delivered within 10 minutes. The pump energy in the 10 PW level amplifiers is shown as a label on top of each data point.

Fig. 6. Beam profile for the last shots fired at more than 10 PW peak power. The label represents the time for the specific measured pulse.

Fig. 7. Spectrum at the output of the last amplifier for each pulse. In green are the last three pulses with power larger than 10 PW. In pink are the pulses during the ramp up of the energy.