Terahertz Active Nanosecond Gigawatt Compressor Thermal Feasibility

We discuss an opportunity of an active compressor to reach gigawatt power in nanosecond pulses compressing microsecond pulsed gyrotron radiation in a terahertz band. The compressor is based on a classic three-mirror circular scheme with an active switching element of plain gallium arsenide driven by picosecond optical laser pulse. The input radiation from a gyrotron is introduced to a corrugated coupling mirror. A dummy load absorbs the spurious spatial harmonics. While the idea of reaching compression ratio over 100, i.e. sub-gigawatt and even gigawatt peak output power, seems to be feasible [1], there are several thermal problems at different stages of compression. The results of the research for compromise solutions for heat removal and optimal pumping modes of the compressor are presented.