Scientists at the University of Michigan’s Zettawatt Equivalent Ultrashort laser pulse System (ZEUS) have announced the first ever 2-petawatt (2 quadrillion watts) experiment, with an energy total exceeding 100 times global electricity power output.
Lasting only 25 quintillionths of a second, the experiment makes ZEUS the most powerful laser ever built.
“This milestone marks the beginning of experiments that move into unexplored territory for American high field science,” said Karl Krushelnick, director of the Gérard Mourou Center for Ultrafast Optical Science, which houses ZEUS.
Zeus is the Most Powerful Laser Ever
High-powered lasers have several applications, ranging from fusion energy experiments to combat operations. While the most powerful combat laser ever built produced hundreds of kilowatts of drone-killing energy, lasers used in fusion research can reach several times higher than that.
Several potential applications for powerful lasers have been developed in recent years, including an MIT magnetizing laser for long-term data storage, creating 3D optical knots, detecting planetary threats, moving objects around in space, or telling time. However, generating the extremely high energies needed in the most extreme applications has required scientists to continue to improve laser power output.
In the recent experiment, ZEUS produced an initial infrared pulse at one side of its gymnasium-sized facility. Specialized optical devices called diffraction gratings manipulated the beam as it traveled until it reached its maximum size of 12 inches across and a few feet in length.
Next, a set of ‘pump’ lasers adds energy to the beam as it enters a vacuum chamber. Once inside, the beam is flattened from a few feet in length to approximately 8 microns, concentrating the energy. According to the scientists, a beam of this intensity “could turn the air into plasma.”
The final phase of the process involves shrinking the beam’s 12-inch width to less than a single micron. This concentration level allows the laser to deliver its peak power, in this case 2 petawatts, if only for a few quadrillionths of a second.
Pursuit of a 3 Petawatt Laser Already Underway
Following the successful demonstration, the U-M research team is already aiming for a more powerful laser test that can reach three petawatts. According to Franko Bayer, project manager for ZEUS, one of the most critical components needed to achieve this historic output is a customized sapphire crystal infused with titanium atoms. This 7-inch-diameter crystal is the most critical component of the laser’s final amplifier system if they hope to achieve peak power.
“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,” Bayer explained. “The size of the titanium sapphire crystal we have, there are only a few in the world.”
Once the 3-petawatt system is in place, the team plans to experimentally collide accelerated electrons with powerful laser pulses traveling in the opposite direction. According to the team, this collision will make the 3-petawatt system “seem” a million times stronger by creating a zettawatt-scale pulse.
“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,” said Anatoly Maksimchuk, U-M research scientist in electrical and computer engineering, who leads the development of the experimental areas.
If successful, the combined experiment would allow the team to produce electron beams with energies equivalent to particle accelerators. This experiment would produce 5 to 10 times more energy than previous electron beams created by ZEUS. However, unlike those multi-billion-dollar facilities, the ZEUS experiment can operate at that level for a fraction of the cost.
Facility Will Expand the Frontiers of Human Knowledge
When discussing the value of the ZEUS facility to outside researchers, Professor of Physics and Astronomy at the University of California, Irvine, Franklin Dollar, whose team is running the first user experiment at two petawatts, says having access to a facility that is open to the broader research community is incredibly valuable.
“Having a national resource like this, which awards time to users whose experimental concepts are most promising for advancing scientific priorities, is really bringing high-intensity laser science back to the U.S,” Dollar said.
According to Vyacheslav Lukin, a program director in the NSF Division of Physics, which oversees the ZEUS project, the high-energy laser experiments taking place at ZEUS have several potential applications that could have wide-ranging implications across several industries.
“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,” said Lukin. “Scientists using the unique capabilities of ZEUS will expand the frontiers of human knowledge in new ways and provide new opportunities for American innovation and economic growth.”
Christopher Plain is a Science Fiction and Fantasy novelist and Head Science Writer at The Debrief. Follow and connect with him on X, learn about his books at plainfiction.com, or email him directly at christopher@thedebrief.org.