LLE recently hosted the 15th International Laser Operations Workshop (ILOW), which is held every two years and brings together scientists, engineers, and laser operators from around the world to discuss the safety, effectiveness, and efficiency of large- and medium-scale laser facilities. Since its inception in 1998, ILOW has played a vital role in improving operations and fostering connections between hundreds of personnel at facilities across the US, UK, and Europe.
Many scientific conferences focus on latest research results, but ILOW is unique from an operational standpoint because it is one of the only opportunities for the people who operate these facilities to meet and discuss both the challenges and advances that are unique to high-power laser facilities. Some of the important topics the conference addresses include how best to maintain laser systems, how to balance user needs, and how to build a pipeline of future engineers and technicians.
These discussions offer excellent opportunities for collaboration and knowledge-sharing. Attendees can exchange information on various vendors, for example, from whom materials can be sourced to make new gratings or crystals. Being forthcoming about what is and what is not working allows teams to brainstorm and work together to improve facilities and support users. Additionally, the connections attendees make at ILOW continue long after the sessions are over, with researchers often reaching out to members of other facilities when working on something new to learn about specifics and logistics of projects that may have been conducted elsewhere.
This year, LLE was pleased to host nearly 60 LLE staff participants and 54 visitors from 13 facilities outside the lab, including the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL); the Z-Backlighter Laser Facility at Sandia National Laboratories; the Zeus Laser System at the University of Michigan; the Central Laser Facility (UK), the Orion Laser Facility, based at AWE Nuclear Security Technologies (UK); the Laser Mégajoule (France); the Apollon Laser Facility, operated by Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS) and the École polytechnique (France); and the ELI (Extreme Light Infrastructure) pan-European network.
Over the course of the three-day workshop, participants attended small-group breakout discussions, engaging poster sessions, tours of the Omega Laser Facility, and informative presentations on a wide range of topics including facility developments and improvements, sustainment, instrument upgrades, optics performance, safety and control, and more. “It is an honor for a university-based laser lab that operators, engineers and scientists from the two largest lasers in the world and from one of the most well-funded European laser infrastructures would come here to URochester to discuss operations and for this community to learn lessons from each other,” says LLE Director Chris Deeney. “Again, this is because of the strong commitment, quality, productivity and safety that Team LLE exhibits.”
One of the most-requested topics for discussion during this year’s workshop was the use of AI and machine learning (AI/ML) in operations, and the talk given by the NIF team at LLNL in addition to the two breakout sessions on the topic were well attended. The idea of using AI/ML for laser modeling and for scientists to create new pulse shapes has been an exciting development here at LLE, and one that NIF has taken to the next level by applying AI/ML to preventative maintenance work on the facility’s lasers. At NIF, operators can now teach AI about maintenance and recovery strategies using a system that searches the facility’s database and e-log for other instances similar errors occurred, vastly speeding up recovery and troubleshooting time between experiments.
Until the next ILOW meeting, which is planned to be held at AWE Nuclear Security Technologies in the UK, LLE continues to focus on the sustainment of the Omega Laser Facility, with many projects and planned upgrades in the works to keep the facility running for many more years, in addition to supporting the future of the laboratory through ambitious initiatives such as NSF OPAL.