(DURIP) ENHANCEMENT OF HIGH REPETITION RATE CAPABILITY FOR ZEUS LASER SYSTEM
Abstract
The Gerard Mourou Center for Ultrafast Optical Science (CUOS) at the University of Michigan is constructing a new high power laser facility funded by NSF for the US scientific community, having an open external review panel for facility access and will provide 30 weeks-year dedicated to external user experiments by FY2024. The construction of this facility is in response to recommendations from the recently published National Academy Report on Opportunities in Intense Ultrafast Lasers- Reaching the Brightest Light (2018) which advocates for the construction of mid-scale university basedhigh intensity laser facilities in the US.The past two decades have witnessed the development of revolutionary light sources having the unprecedented ability to control and probe matter. CUOS has been at the forefront in the development of this technology, including the world-leading high intensity laser facility, HERCULES, initially establishedby Gerard Mourou (Physics Nobel Prize 2018). The new facility under construction builds on the success of HERCULES and will be called ZEUS, a Multi-Beam 3 PetaWatt laser system that will provide unique and world-leading capabilities for the US scientific community. The name ZEUS (Zettawatt-EquivalentUltrashort pulse laser System) refers to the interaction of a PW laser pulse colliding with a GeV energy electron beam that can be generated by one of its two beamlines. This geometry provides the equivalent of a Zettawatt power laser interaction (1021 Watts) in the rest frame of the beam and will allow systematic exploration of plasmas in quantum critical fields.The ZEUS system will have two modes of operation, either for experiments using a single 3 PW beamline or for dual beam 2.5 PW-500 TW experiments. A nanosecond 80 J shock driver beamline for generating high-energy-density states of matter will also be available. The plan for construction is 4 yearsin duration which includes 1 year for testing and commissioning in 2023. ZEUS will be the highest-power laser system in the US and will be among the highest-power lasers worldwide for the next decade.The repetition rate of ZEUS as presently configured will be one shot per minute and this proposal requests DURIP funding to enable 1-5 Hz operation of the laser system at powers up to 400 TW. This additional operational mode will enable a significant amount of data to be taken at high repetition rate whichis particularly important for x-ray (up to 50 keV) and neutron (up to 20 MeV) imaging applications of interest to DoD. The bursts of x-rays and neutrons produced by this laser will also have ultra-short pulse duration and can consequently also be used for probing dynamic events at picosecond or femtosecond temporal resolution.This DURIP proposal emcompasses three components that are critical for high average power operation for user experiments. These requirements are- 1) an additional Nd-YAG pump laser to enable operation at 5 Hz at a power of up to 400 TW, 2) a deformable mirror in the laser chain to control the laser phasefront during amplification so that damage is avoided at high rep rate 3) high damage threshold diffraction gratings for high average power operation. This equipment will enable the generation of energetic x-rays (~50 keV) for imaging dense materials.CUOS was founded in 1990 and has been an interdisciplinary research center focused on the use of ultra-short laser pulses in science and technology. There have been major impacts to society from this research, involving the granting of 167 patents and the formation of 5 highly successful spin-off companies. More than 250 PhD students have also been produced, most now working in academia, the high tech industry or in US government labs.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Mar 07, 2023
- Source ID
- FA95502210118
Entities
People
- Karl Krushelnick
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- Board of Regents of the University of Michigan
- United States Air Force