© University of Rochester 1996-2012
The University officially introduced
its new “petawatt”—or million billion
watt—laser at the Laboratory
for Laser Energetics in May. Special
guests U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, U.S.
Reps. Thomas Reynolds and Randy
Kuhl, and the Department of Energy’s
Undersecretary for Nuclear Security
Thomas D’Agostino took part in the
dedication ceremony. Working in conjunction
with the laboratory’s original
Omega laser, the Omega Extended
Performance (EP) will offer a 50-fold
power increase and will open the door
to a new concept called “fast ignition,”
which may be able to dramatically increase
the energy derived from fusion
experiments and provide a possible
new avenue toward clean fusion power.
© University of Rochester 1996-2012