Operated by the newly renamed ZEUS (Zettawatt Equivalent Ultrashort laser pulse System), this facility has transformed high-field science. It became so experimental just 15 months after its grand opening in October 2021. One of its lasers, ZEUS, has unreal level of laser power — 1 petawatt. This amazing new capability will profoundly change the face of scientific research all across the United States. As of this writing, the facility has successfully hosted 11 distinct experiments, providing the opportunity for 58 separate experimenters from 22 different institutions.
The ZEUS team, overseen by the National Science Foundation (NSF) Division of Physics, aims to produce electron beams with energies that rival those generated by traditional particle accelerators, which can be hundreds of meters long. Their laser pulse lasts just 25 quintillionths of a second. It delivers more energy than the total amount produced by all the world’s power plants combined. Keep an eye on this dynamic, ongoing project! We intend to populate the system to eventually reach a total power of 2 petawatts over the course of the next year.
Innovative Experiments and Collaborations
Since its release, ZEUS has been of interest to hundreds of researchers around the world who are ready to take advantage of its sophisticated capabilities. The unusual design of the facility lends itself to distinctive experimental configurations, allowing scientists to divide the laser light into many beams. This specific feature greatly increases the versatility of the experiments which can be conducted at ZEUS.
Franklin Dollar, who leads one of the first user experiments at 2 petawatts, highlights this flexibility:
“One of the great things about ZEUS is it’s not just one big laser hammer, but you can split the light into multiple beams.”
Collaborations across institutions have been key, with experimenters teaming up in a search for untapped lands in the realm of high-field science. Karl Krushelnick, director of the Gérard Mourou Center for Ultrafast Optical Science, emphasized the importance of these collaborative efforts:
“This milestone marks the beginning of experiments that move into unexplored territory for American high field science.”
ZEUS succeeds by going very big, hitting jaw-dropping power levels. In doing so, it stimulates creative uses that come out of its research. Vyacheslav Lukin, program director at the NSF, mentioned the potential impact:
“The fundamental research done at the NSF ZEUS facility has many possible applications, including better imaging methods for soft tissues and advancing the technology used to treat cancer and other diseases.”
Technical Achievements and Future Goals
The technical specs of the ZEUS system are pretty astonishing. Its laser beam is focused down to a width of 0.8 microns, yielding the most intense shot possible during an experiment. The revolutionizing amplification process requires four rounds of pump lasers that contribute energy to get its staggering power level. At present, that last amplifier has a key component just shy of 7 inches across.
Anatoly Maksimchuk, who leads the development of ZEUS’s experimental areas, outlined their ambitious goals:
“We aim to reach higher electron energies using two separate laser beams—one to form a guiding channel and the other to accelerate electrons through it.”
ZEUS is making strides toward its ambitious target of 2 petawatts of power. There are some exciting plans for new technology that will propel these innovations further still! Franko Bayer noted an upcoming enhancement:
“The crystal that we’re going to get in the summer will get us to 3 petawatts, and it took four and a half years to manufacture.”
These renovations reflect the NMR community’s deep commitment to challenging the frontiers of high-field science. They further confirm ZEUS’s importance as a critical national resource.
A New Era for High-Intensity Laser Science
John Nees pointed out the advantages of operating a midscale-sized facility:
“As a midscale-sized facility, we can operate more nimbly than large-scale facilities like particle accelerators or the National Ignition Facility.”
ZEUS provides access to some of the world’s most advanced technology and promotes teamwork between scientists. This new approach promotes the expansion of the frontiers of human knowledge while protecting American innovation and economic growth. The future certainly is high-field, as these pioneering researchers continue to harness this powerful tool to unlock new discoveries.