Events

CANCELED | NSF OPAL: An NSF Midscale Research Infrastructure (RI-1) Design and Prototyping Project for a Next-Generation, Ultraintense Laser User Facility

Jonathan Zuegel, Professor of Optics, Director and Distinguished Scientist, Laser and Materials Technology Division, Laboratory for Laser Energetics

Presented in Goergen 101 and on Zoom

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Abstract

The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) awarded a mid-scale infrastructure (RI-1) design and prototyping project in 2023 to the University of Rochester for NSF OPAL, a new, world-leading, high-power laser user facility that would include two 25-petawatt lasers, experimental systems, and diagnostics to address four areas of compelling, frontier science identified by the Multi-Petawatt Physics Prioritization (MP3) workshop [[1]]. Major project goals include: (a) design of the overall NSF OPAL facility; (b) design and prototyping of high-energy, actively cooled laser amplifiers with shot-cycle times of a few minutes; (c) design and prototyping of production and characterization systems for large optics (diffraction gratings and nonlinear optical crystals); and (d) design and prototyping of experimental systems and diagnostic approaches (liquid-crystal plasma mirrors and targets, and focal-spot intensity measurements). The talk will provide an overview of the project, its current status, and its future prospects.

Funding Acknowledgement: This material is based upon work supported by the U.S. National Science Foundation under Cooperative Agreement No. (PHY-2329970).

Team Acknowledgement: The NSF OPAL RI-1 project team includes many participants including members of the NSF OPAL frontier science working groups [[2]], subawardees, and staff scientists, engineers, and administrators at UR/LLE.

[1] A. Di Piazza, L. Willingale, and J. D. Zuegel, Multi-Petawatt Physics Prioritization (MP3) Workshop Report (2022), https://arxiv.org/abs/2211.13187.
[2] NSF OPAL frontier science working groups, join by completing NSF OPAL Working Group Interest Form

Biography

Dr. Jonathan D. Zuegel serves as the Laser and Materials Technology Division Director, and a Distinguished Scientist at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics, and a Professor of Optics at the Institute of Optics, University of Rochester. Dr. Zuegel led the Laser Development and Engineering Division from 2014 to 2019, and the Laser Technology Development Group from 2001 to 2014. Jon is a Fellow of Optica (formerly OSA) and serves/has served in numerous capacities chairing scientific conferences (CLEO, ICUIL, OSA topical meetings) and international advisory committees (various ELI facilities, DESY-EuXFEL, RAL-EPAC, NSF ZEUS).

Dr. Zuegel joined LLE in 1996 after receiving his Ph.D. in Optics from The Institute of Optics at the University of Rochester. He received his B.S. (1983) and Masters of Engineering (1984) in Electrical Engineering from Cornell University and he served in the U.S. Navy in the Department of Energy, Division of Naval Reactors.