According to reports, scientists from the US Department of Energy’s SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory recently upgraded a powerful optical laser pointer system to generate shock waves similar to high-pressure conditions inside planets. The laser pointer system provided three times the energy of SLAC’s ultra-bright X-ray laser experiment and a more useful tool for exploring the extreme state of matter in the universe. Optical lasers and X-ray lasers can form a material under extreme conditions (MEC) on a linear accelerator continuous light source (LCLS). The high-power optical laser system can produce extreme temperature and pressure conditions in the material, and the X-ray laser can capture the reaction of the material under such conditions.
Using this technique, the researchers have studied the effects of meteors on impact minerals under the simulated conditions of the earth’s crust and Jupiter’s interior, which turned aluminum foil into a warm, dense plasma. Higher intensity and more controlled pulse shape. The MEC instrument team received funding from the Office of Fusion Energy Science (FES) of the US Department of Energy to double the amount of energy that the beam can transmit in 10 nanoseconds, from 20 joules to 40 joules.
But their work does not end there. The plasma project manager of the FES High Energy Density Laboratory said: “The team exceeded our expectations and is an exciting achievement for DOE high energy density planning and future MEC instrument users.” In no more than a few human hairs With a wide target area, the team tripled the laser energy transmitted in 10 nanoseconds. In the above small area, the laser can provide users with an intensity of 75 terawatts per square centimeter.
Part of this energy upgrade can be attributed to the optical green laser pointer‘s new self-made diode pump front end, which was designed with the help of MEC laser engineers. Scientists have also established and automated a system for plasticizing laser pulses in very precise shapes, allowing users to greatly increase flexibility and control the shape of pulses used in their experiments. More powerful and reliable lasers mean that researchers can study higher pressure mechanisms and reach conditions related to fusion energy research.