Beam Pointing Stability and Controls for the ZEUS Laser Facility

Precise beam pointing is essential for high-intensity laser–plasma experiments at facilities like ZEUS, where successful laser–electron collisions enable strong-field QED studies. We characterized beam pointing instabilities by imaging focal spot jitter at the compressor entrance and identifying vibration signatures up to 100 Hz. Building on this, we designed a feedback system using a polarization-maintaining laser diode and piezo-actuated compensation mirror to actively correct beam drift. To further enhance stability, we are developing a recurrent neural network that predicts future beam positions from sequential jitter data, enabling predictive rather than purely reactive corrections. This combined hardware–software approach aims to improve overlap in collision experiments and expand the precision capabilities of ZEUS.