Funding aimed at fusion energy awarded to Laboratory for Laser Energetics, Sandia National Laboratories collaboration
The award seeks to build upon recent successes of Sandia’s Magnetized Liner Inertial Fusion (MagLIF) concept. The concept uses a laser to heat fusion fuel contained in a small cylinder as it is compressed by the huge magnetic field of Sandia’s massive Z accelerator.
Generating broadband terahertz radiation from a microplasma in air
Researchers in the Institute of Optics have shown that a microplasma created by focusing intense laser pulses in air emits not only visible light, but also electromagnetic pulses at terahertz frequencies that can be used to detect complex molecules, such as explosives and drugs.
Laser-generated surface structures create extremely water-repellent metals
Scientists at the Institute of Optics have used lasers to transform metals into extremely water repellent, or super-hydrophobic, materials without the need for temporary coatings.
Experiment on earth demonstrates effect observed in space
Streaming jets of high-speed matter produce some of the most stunning objects seen in space. an experiment by French and American researchers using extremely high-powered lasers offers experimental verification of one proposed mechanism for creating them.
Peeking into Schrödinger’s box
How do you measure a 27-dimensional quantum state, when the act of measuring can lead to its collapse? (photo by Flickr user Martin Cathrae)