Construction and commissioning of the ZEUS laser system at the University of Michigan

The Zettawatt-Equivalent Ultrashort pulse laser System (ZEUS) is being constructed at the University of Michigan as the National Science Foundation mid-scale user facility. The ZEUS facility includes a repetitive dual-beamline 3 PW laser system, a 100 J programmable shape multi-ns pulse driver, three radiation shielded experimental areas and will provide unique capabilities to explore nonlinear quantum electrodynamics, relativistic plasmas, particles acceleration, extreme laboratory astrophysics and nuclear photonics. Once completed, the ZEUS laser system will be the highest-power laser system in the US and will become a user facility for the US scientists and wider international research community. The construction status of the ZEUS facility including building renovation, laser, vacuum beam lines, experimental chambers, radiation shielding and the results of the initial commissioning experiment on the laser wakefield electron acceleration and radiation production at a 500 TW level will be reported.