Good news! Amazing stuff!
"The ZEUS laser facility at the University of Michigan has roughly doubled the peak power of any other laser in the U.S. with its first official experiment at 2 petawatts (2 quadrillion watts).
At more than 100 times the global electricity power output, this huge power lasts only for the brief duration of its laser pulse—just 25 quintillionth of a second long. ...
The road to 2 petawatts has been slow and careful. Just getting the pieces they need to assemble the system has been harder than expected.
The biggest challenge is a sapphire crystal, infused with titanium atoms. Almost 7 inches in diameter, it is the critical component of the final amplifier of the system, which brings the laser pulse to full power. ...
In the meantime, jumping from the 300 terawatt power of the previous HERCULES laser to just 1 petawatt on ZEUS resulted in worrying darkening of the gratings.
First, they had to determine the cause: Were they permanently damaged or just darkened by carbon deposits from the powerful beam tearing up molecules floating in the imperfect vacuum chamber? ..."
Credits: IEEE USA Smartbrief
A view through the titanium-sapphire crystal that helps to transfer power into ZEUS’s laser pulses. At two petawatts, ZEUS is now the most powerful laser in the U.S.
... holds up a laser burn mark on photographic paper in a control room of the ZEUS lab. This test reveals any potentially damaging hot spots in the expanded laser pulse as it enters the compressor that will shrink it into a tiny, intense and powerful laser pulse. The lines come from imperfections in the final amplifying crystal, which must be replaced before ZEUS can reach its full power of 3 petawatts. At two petawatts, ZEUS is now the most powerful laser in the U.S.
No comments:
Post a Comment