From Blue Sky to Bleeding Edge: What's Becoming Possible with Ultra-High Power Laser Technology

Advances in nanosecond to femtosecond duration laser technology have already led to interesting scientific discoveries and produced some engineering applications. The progress in this field is continuing and I will talk about some of the most exciting work being done. The National Ignition Facility, for example, now produces more neutron energy from fusion experiments than the laser energy used to produce the reactions, and there is now a network of ultra-intense laser systems called LaserNetUS that researchers can use for free. I will talk about my research with these systems and describe on ramps for students and faculty interested to contribute to this field.