Highlighted APT Projects and Emerging Applications
APT pairs the development of cutting-edge high peak and average power lasers with expertise in HED and plasma physics to drive scientific exploration and technology advances.
We are developing 150 J, 150 fs, petawatt laser operating at 10 Hz repetition rate for installation in an upgraded Matter in Extreme Conditions (MEC) experimental facility at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. The new laser will pair SLAC’s Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) X-ray free-electron laser to advance the understanding of high-energy density (HED) physics, plasma physics, fusion energy, laser-plasma interactions, astrophysics, planetary science and other physical phenomena.
The High-repetition-rate Advanced Petawatt Laser System (HAPLS) is the world’s highest average power diode-pumped petawatt-class laser system, currently used for particle acceleration user experiments at ELI-Beamlines in the Czech Republic.
The Intense and Compact Muon source for Science and Security (ICMuS2) Program combines expertise in high peak and average power lasers, compact particle accelerators, high energy physics, and system integration for seeing inside seemingly impossible places — nuclear reactors, volcanoes, tsunamis, hurricanes, and Egypt’s Great Pyramid of Giza.
Fusion energy may be the ultimate energy source and offers a long-term vision for climate and energy security. The milestone of achieving fusion ignition in the laboratory provides fresh impetus in the development of Inertial Fusion Energy (IFE). An Institutional Initiative is developing a roadmap to advance IFE efforts using the expertise developed LLNL through a collaborative hub model bringing together industry, academia, and national labs.
APT scientists and engineers are pushing the frontier in high repetition rate High Energy Density (HED) Science. To take advantage of the potential enormous gains in capability offered by next-generation laser systems such as HAPLS, concurrent advancements are being pursed in diagnostic development (i.e. digital data acquisition in harsh HED environments), novel repetition-rate-capable target delivery systems, fast and accurate data analysis, reliable data communication, and control infrastructure enabled by deep learning. Developing HRR HED infrastructure and methodologies will have direct enabling impact to NNSA and DOE missions, including enhanced autonomous control and communication infrastructure, IFE research, and power plant designs.
High intensity laser driven sources of photons and particles are used to create and probe high energy density conditions. The High Intensity Laser Driven Sources program area works to advance the source science and motivate laser technology maturation to meet needs of NNSA mission space, which includes application such as radiography of static and dynamic objects in novel imaging modalities and creating source characteristics that can interrogate specific physical characteristics of material at HED conditions. Source development occurs at medium and large-scale laser facilities at LLNL and around the world.
