Advanced Target Chamber to Enable High-Power, Ultrashort-Pulse Laser–Matter Physics
The Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) has invested in building the MTW-OPAL Target Chamber to provide the final investment in infrastructure to complete a new mid-scale petawatt laser facility that will enable fundamental research, including high-field physics, laser-based secondary sources (THz, x-rays, and charged particles), high-energy-density physics, and directed energy. The target chamber will provide an opportunity for investigators across multiple disciplines (e.g., high-power lasers, ultrashort-pulse laser–matter physics, optics, THz science, and high-energy-density physics) to advance novel science while providing hands-on training for graduate students, engineers, and technicians. As a result, the final infrastructure project will establish a facility for short-pulse, laser-enabled science education, addressing a national need relevant to the AFOSR and other agencies.
