Around the Lab

Two of OMEGA EP’s four laser beams can produce pulses generating over 2,600 joules in 10 ps, making OMEGA EP the world’s most energetic short-pulse laser. These beams can be delivered either to targets within the OMEGA EP design group existing OMEGA target chamber or to a new and independent chamber within the OMEGA EP Target Area Structure. Simply put, high-intensity short pulses can be made to function much like a strobe on a camera, stopping the action and illuminating the event. In more dramatic terms, these powerhouse pulses will supply more energy in a brief instant of time than 1,000 times the output of the entire United States electrical grid. This co-location of the compressional capabilities of the OMEGA laser with the petawatt (one million billion watts of power) capability of the OMEGA EP Laser Facility provides OMEGA EP amplifier development team a unique platform to verify laboratory ignition-relevant design models. The short- and long-pulse systems operating jointly will interrogate both high-velocity and high-density regimes in a manner that is well beyond what is currently possible.

The OMEGA EP Laser System is housed inside the Robert L. Sproull Center for Ultra High Intensity Laser Research—LLE’s new 84,000-sq ft addition—which began construction in 2003 and was completed in February 2005. In November 2007 the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announced the renewal of LLE’s five-year Cooperative Agreement, providing funding of up to $351 million through 2012. Such funding makes it possible for LLE’s more than 500 scientists, engineers, employees, and students to continue their research into ICF fusion, laser science and development, plasma physics, and high-intensity optics. To remain on schedule with the complex integration of new technologies and existing facilities and to ensure safe operation of the new laser, Samuel F. B. Morse, the OMEGA EP Project Manager, and the dedicated staff throughout LLE volunteered countless personal hours, which included 4 a.m.-to-midnight shifts over six-month cycles. Taking five years to conceive, design, prototype, and realize, this remarkable project owes its on-time and on-budget completion to the consistently meticulous participation of all LLE employees. LLE’s noteworthy synergy, combining the talents of scientists, engineers, technicians, and students in a uniquely collaborative environment, has helped establish the Laboratory’s leading role across the globe in ICF, laser science, and high-intensity optics.