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NSF funds multi-institutional design of world-leading NSF OPAL laser at Rochester

A successful NSF OPAL design would enable the highest-power laser system in the world. The project鈥檚 co-principal investigators include (clockwise from upper left) Jonathan Zuegel and Antonino Di Piazza from the 人妻少妇专区, Eva Zurek from the University of Buffalo, Franklin Dollar from the University of California鈥揑rvine, and Ani Aprahamian from the University of Notre Dame. (人妻少妇专区 artwork / Julia Joshpe)

The ultrahigh-intensity laser facility has the potential to be a unique open-access resource for the global scientific community.

Editor鈥檚 note: Other than in quoted material, this post has been updated to reflect the project鈥檚 change in name from EP-OPAL to NSF OPAL in spring 2024.

The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded the 人妻少妇专区 nearly to design and prototype key technologies for , a new facility dedicated to the study of ultrahigh-intensity laser-matter interactions. The facility could be built at the (LLE) upon completion of the design project. The funding, part of NSF鈥檚 , supports the agency in positioning the United States at the cutting edge of global science and engineering leadership.

鈥淭he NSF鈥檚 design award represents further recognition that LLE is one of the scientific leaders in our national effort to advance the understanding of light, matter, and even the evolution of the universe itself,鈥 says 人妻少妇专区 president Sarah Mangelsdorf. 鈥淲ith the support of this award, we will continue to build on Rochester鈥檚 pioneering legacy in optical science and laser technology, a history that includes breakthroughs that have already transformed medicine, computing, and other fields.

鈥淲e are grateful for the support of the NSF in selecting Rochester to carry out this important work. We also are thankful for the support of our congressional delegation, particularly Senators Schumer and Gillibrand and Congressman Morelle, for their efforts to advance the work of LLE, the University, and the Rochester region.鈥

High-intensity lasers enable a large and important body of pioneering science鈥攆rom plasma science to particle acceleration, laboratory astrophysics to laser-driven nuclear physics鈥攖hat has resulted in scientific, medical, commercial, and industrial applications.

The Omega Laser Facility at LLE houses two very powerful lasers鈥擮MEGA and OMEGA EP鈥攖hat are used by scientists from around the world. NSF OPAL鈥攐riginally named EP-OPAL, which stood for OMEGA EP-coupled Optical Parametric Amplifier Lines (OPAL)鈥攚ill be designed to add two of the most powerful lasers in the world and to harness the capabilities of the high-energy OMEGA EP laser. The facility is envisioned to provide laser capabilities beyond those currently available internationally, helping to reestablish US leadership in the field of high-peak-power lasers and the fundamental science that it enables.

A successful NSF OPAL design would enable the highest-power laser system in the world, according to principal investigator , a distinguished scientist at LLE and a professor of optics at Rochester. 鈥淚ts two laser beams combined will deliver laser pulses with peak power approaching the same total power as incident on the Earth鈥檚 surface from the Sun, but focused into an area smaller than the cross-section of a human hair,鈥 he says.

The project leverages the expertise, resources, and talents of partner institutions nationwide, including six universities and one private company:

鈥淚t鈥檚 thrilling to see chirped pulse amplification come full circle with Rochester once again leading the charge to develop and implement the most powerful lasers in the world.鈥 鈥擭obel laureate Donna Strickland 鈥89 (PhD)
  • University at Buffalo
  • University of California鈥揑rvine
  • University of Notre Dame
  • University of Maryland
  • University of Michigan
  • Ohio State University
  • Plymouth Grating Laboratory in Massachusetts

Accelerating high-impact research in frontier science

An experimental facility like NSF OPAL鈥攐ne that is housed at a university and openly accessible to a broad user base鈥攃ould open the doors to a new era of high-impact research.

鈥淪uper-intense laser beams allow us to create extreme conditions in our own laboratories that are now found only in the most exotic parts of the universe,鈥 says Philip Bucksbaum, a Stanford University physicist, a former president of the American Physical Society, and chair of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine committee that delivered the 2018 report . 鈥淭he EP-OPAL facility design responds directly to recommendations in this report and other recent strategic planning activities by the NAS and the American Physical Society Division of Plasma Physics by combining the capabilities of solid-state lasers like OMEGA EP with those of ultrafast femtosecond-duration lasers based on chirped-pulse amplification. This new award keeps Rochester on the path to build and house a unique research tool of particularly high value to the US research community,鈥 says Bucksbaum.

Nobel laureate and Rochester alumna Donna Strickland 鈥89 (PhD), a professor of physics at the University of Waterloo, shares Bucksbaum鈥檚 enthusiasm: 鈥淚t鈥檚 thrilling to see chirped pulse amplification come full circle with Rochester once again leading the charge to develop and implement the most powerful lasers in the world.鈥

As a graduate student working at LLE in the 1980s, Strickland and her thesis advisor G茅rard Mourou invented chirped pulse amplification, an approach for generating ultrashort, high-intensity laser pulses. Their work revolutionized the field of high-intensity laser physics, earning them the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2018. 鈥淭he EP-OPAL design and prototyping project will take laser science and technology to the next level using optical parametric chirped pulse amplification,鈥 she says.

Connecting the US and global scientific communities

The United States is at an inflection point with regard to laser science and technology. Existing capabilities and resources span national laboratories, academia, and the private sector. New laser facilities鈥攊ncluding at the University of Michigan鈥攁re coming online soon. The NSF OPAL design and prototyping project award positions NSF to play a pivotal role in the scientific community by bridging the gap between major research facilities and individually led research programs with another, larger midscale research infrastructure that complements NSF ZEUS.

The current user base at Rochester already includes hundreds of researchers, scientists, and scholars from the Omega Laser Facility User Group () as well as thousands more from the global research community.

鈥淎 new facility of this caliber would serve an even broader and more diverse scientific community while enabling revolutionary research experiments across four different areas of frontier science that I will lead along with my co-principal investigators,鈥 says NSF OPAL co-principal investigator Eva Zurek, a chemistry professor at the University at Buffalo and a senior investigator with the (CMAP), an NSF-Physics Frontiers Center hosted at Rochester.

Extending the scientific, technological, and education impact

The potential benefits of NSF OPAL extend beyond the current scientific community. Cutting-edge laser systems and facilities are vital to the ongoing quest of tackling societal grand challenges in energy, national security, manufacturing, and life sciences. Midscale research infrastructures specifically can have significant implications for the economy, security, and competitiveness of the United States.

The new NSF OPAL design award builds on ongoing efforts at Rochester for educational outreach and workforce development and diversification, including CMAP and a recent NSF Regional Innovation Engines Development Award to establish an innovation and economic hub built around the Science, Technology and Engineering of Lasers and Laser Applications Research (STELLAR). Says Mangelsdorf, 鈥淲ith a clear vision for better engaging groups underrepresented in science and engineering, this project embodies our institutional commitment to making the world ever better.鈥

Government officials expressed their support for the award and project:

US Senator Charles Schumer: 鈥淲hen I brought NSF Director Panchanathan to Rochester to see firsthand the remarkable potential of 人妻少妇专区鈥檚 Laboratory for Laser Energetics鈥 (LLE), I said it would be the key to keeping the US ahead of foreign competitors in the race to create new scientific advances. This award is the critical first step needed to design and advance UR鈥檚 proposal to create this new EP-OPAL laser right here in Rochester by leveraging the talent of LLE鈥檚 over 400 employees to lead the way on this crucial laser research and innovation endeavor that promises to push the frontiers of U.S. scientific research for decades to come.鈥

US Senator Kirsten Gillibrand: 鈥淐ongratulations to the 人妻少妇专区 for this investment from NSF. With this design award, the university can advance US leadership in high-intensity laser research with the potential to have profound implications for energy, security, medicine, and more.鈥

Congressman Joe Morelle: 鈥淚 join with the entire scientific community on commending the 人妻少妇专区 on this well-deserved award. The development of EP-OPAL will provide a unique research environment and prepare the Laboratory for Laser Energetics to lead the country in this cutting-edge research and technology. Congratulations.鈥