Unleashing ZEUS: Discover the Country’s Most Powerful Laser at a Stunning 2 Petawatts!

The University of Michigan recently unveiled the Zettawatt-Equivalent Ultrashort pulse laser System, known as ZEUS. This new laser generated an impressive 2 petawatts of power during its initial test. That’s more than 100 times the world’s total electricity output! However, these powerful bursts last only 25 quintillionths of a second. They’ll be used for research in several fields, including medicine and quantum physics.

Funded by the US National Science Foundation, ZEUS cost $16 million to develop. It features unique 7-inch sapphire crystals infused with titanium, which took over four years to create. Franko Bayer, the project’s manager, noted that such large crystals are rare.

Operating ZEUS is quite complex. The initial infrared pulse is boosted using multiple pump lasers. To manage the intense energy, the laser pulse passes through special optical devices called diffraction gratings, which help spread out the energy. The pulse then measures 12 inches across but is ultimately compressed to just 0.8 microns wide in vacuum chambers, maximizing its power for experiments.

One of the first tests, led by Franklin Dollar, a professor at UC Irvine, focused on a helium-filled cell. The laser’s impact generated plasma, where electrons are stripped from atoms, creating a mixture of free electrons and positively charged ions. This process accelerates electrons like wake surfers following a speedboat, a technique known as wakefield acceleration.

The goal is to create electron beams as strong as those from traditional particle accelerators but without the massive infrastructure usually required for them.

Located in a space similar in size to a school gym at the Gérard Mourou Center for Ultrafast Optical Science, ZEUS builds on the legacy of its predecessor, the HERCULES laser, which produced 300 terawatts in 2007. ZEUS currently delivers double the peak power of other US lasers and aims for a future output of up to 3 petawatts.

Interestingly, ZEUS, while powerful, still trails behind the European ELI-NP lab in Romania, which reaches a peak of 10 petawatts.

As we dive deeper into the capabilities of lasers like ZEUS, we see their potential to revolutionize science. For instance, in medicine, targeted laser beams could lead to new treatments, making surgeries less invasive. In physics, they could unlock mysteries of the universe. With more advancements on the horizon, the excitement around ZEUS is just beginning.



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