The most powerful laser in the US reaches 2 petawatts, setting new records

The big picture: With its first 2-petawatt experiment successfully completed, ZEUS is poised to push the boundaries of high-field science, providing researchers with a powerful new tool for discovery and innovation. The team continues to upgrade the system toward its full capacity, even as user experiments are already underway. The ZEUS laser facility at the University of Michigan has vaulted the United States to the forefront of high-intensity laser science. In its first official experiment, ZEUS achieved a peak power of 2 petawatts – twice the output of any other laser in the country. Although this burst, more than 100 times the world's total electricity output, lasts only 25 quintillionths of a second, it represents a major milestone in American research capabilities. "This milestone marks the beginning of experiments that move into unexplored territory for American high field science," said Karl Krushelnick, director of the Gérard Mourou Center for Ultrafast Optical Science, whic ... Read full article.