View source for Organization:Laboratory for Laser Energetics

{{Short description|University of Rochester research center in Brighton, New York}}
{{Infobox laboratory
|name           = Laboratory for Laser Energetics
|motto          = "A unique national resource"
|image          = Laboratory for Laser Energetics logo.jpg
|established    = 1970
|type           = Unclassified
|research_field = The investigation of the interaction of intense radiation with matter
|director       = Christopher Deeney
|staff          = 400 - 500 people
|address        = 250 East River Rd<br/>Rochester, NY 14623-1212
|city           = Brighton, New York
|country        = {{wipe|United States}}
|zipcode        = 14623
|coordinates    = {{Coord|43.113108|-77.632012|region:US_type:edu|display=inline,title}}
|affiliations   = United States Department of Energy<br/>[[Physics:MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center|MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center]]<br/>[[Organization:State University of New York at Geneseo|State University of New York at Geneseo]]<br/>[[Organization:University of Nevada, Reno|University of Nevada, Reno]]<br/>[[Organization:University of Wisconsin–Madison|University of Wisconsin–Madison]]
|operating_agency = [[Organization:University of Rochester|University of Rochester]]
|website        = [http://www.lle.rochester.edu lle.rochester.edu]
|footnotes      = 
}}

The '''Laboratory for Laser Energetics''' ('''LLE''') is a scientific research facility which is part of the [[Organization:University of Rochester|University of Rochester]]'s south campus, located in Brighton, New York. The lab was established in 1970 with operations jointly funded by the United States Department of Energy, the University of Rochester and the New York State government. The Laser Lab was commissioned to investigate high-energy physics involving the interaction of extremely intense [[Physics:Laser|laser]] [[Physics:Radiation|radiation]] with matter. Scientific experiments at the facility emphasize inertial confinement, direct drive, laser-induced [[Physics:Nuclear fusion|fusion]], fundamental [[Physics:Plasma physics|plasma physics]] and [[Physics:Astrophysics|astrophysics]] using the Omega Laser Facility. In June 1995, OMEGA became the world's highest-energy [[Physics:Ultraviolet|ultraviolet]] laser.<ref name  = "World's Most Powerful Ultraviolet Laser Comes On-line">"World's Most Powerful Ultraviolet Laser Comes On-line" http://www.rochester.edu/news/show.php?id=641</ref> The lab shares its building with the Center for Optoelectronics and Imaging and the Center for Optics Manufacturing. The Robert L. Sproull Center for Ultra High Intensity Laser Research was opened in 2005 and houses the OMEGA EP laser, which was completed in May 2008.

More than 270 [[Social:Doctor of Philosophy|Ph.D.s]] have been awarded {{asof|2022|lc=y}} for research conducted at the LLE.<ref name="LLE Theses">"LLE Theses" https://www.lle.rochester.edu/index.php/publications-2/lle-theses/</ref><ref name="Theses from NLUF Research">"Theses from NLUF Research" https://www.lle.rochester.edu/index.php/publications-2/theses-from-nluf-and-other-external-university-student-research/</ref> During summer months the lab sponsors local-area high school juniors in research at the laboratory, with most of their projects led by senior scientists at the lab.<ref name="High school LLE">"LLE High School Students and Projects" https://www.lle.rochester.edu/index.php/publications-2/high-school-reports/</ref>

==History==
The LLE was founded on the [[Organization:University of Rochester|University of Rochester]]'s campus in 1970, by Dr. Moshe Lubin.<ref name  = "Timeline">"Leading Lights" Features, Rochester Magazine, 2010, http://www.rochester.edu/pr/Review/V73N1/0401_feature2.html, By Scott Hauser</ref><ref name="Timeline LLE">"History of the Laboratory for Laser Energetics" https://www.lle.rochester.edu/index.php/timeline/</ref> Working with outside companies such as [[Company:Kodak|Kodak]] the team built Delta, a four beam laser system in 1972. Construction started on the current LLE site in 1976.<ref name = "Timeline"/> The facility opened a six beam laser system in 1978 and followed with a 24 beam system two years later. In 2018, [[Biography:Donna Strickland|Donna Strickland]]<ref>"Dr. Donna Strickland: Packing a laser punch" The University of Waterloo, Personal Profiles, accessed 1-11-2014, {{cite web|url=https://uwaterloo.ca/science/magnet-talent-more-stories/dr-donna-strickland |title=Dr. Donna Strickland &#124; Science |access-date=2014-08-24 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140111204111/https://uwaterloo.ca/science/magnet-talent-more-stories/dr-donna-strickland |archive-date=2014-01-11 }}</ref> and [[Biography:Gérard Mourou|Gérard Mourou]] shared a Nobel prize for work they had undertaken in 1985 while at LLE.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rochester.edu/newscenter/rochesters-breakthrough-in-laser-science-earns-nobel-prize-340302/|title=Rochester breakthrough in laser science earns Nobel Prize|date=October 2, 2018|website=University of Rochester|access-date=October 4, 2018}}</ref> They invented a method to amplify laser pulses by [[Physics:Chirped pulse amplification|"chirping"]] for which they would share the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physics. This method disperses a short, broadband pulse of laser light into a temporally longer spectrum of wavelengths. The system amplifies the laser at each wavelength and then reconstitutes the beam into one color. Chirp pulsed amplification became instrumental in building the [[Organization:National Ignition Facility|National Ignition Facility]] and the Omega EP system. In 1995, the omega laser system was increased to 60 beams, and in 2008 the Omega extended performance system was opened.

''{{wipe|The Guardian}}'' and Scientific American provided simplified summaries of the work of Strickland and Mourou: it "paved the way for the shortest, most intense laser beams ever created". "The ultrabrief, ultrasharp beams can be used to make extremely precise cuts so their technique is now used in laser machining and enables doctors to perform millions of corrective" laser eye surgeries.<ref>{{cite news |title=Physics Nobel prize won by Arthur Ashkin, Gérard Mourou and Donna Strickland |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/oct/02/arthur-ashkin-gerard-mourou-and-donna-strickland-win-nobel-physics-prize |access-date=2 October 2018 |work=The Guardian |date=2 October 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title="Optical Tweezers" and Tools Used for Laser Eye Surgery Snag Physics Nobel |url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/optical-tweezers-and-tools-used-for-laser-eye-surgery-snag-physics-nobel1/ |access-date=2 October 2018 |publisher=Scientific American |date=2 October 2018}}</ref>

==OMEGA laser==
The OMEGA laser at the LLE is one of the most powerful and highest energy lasers in the world. It is a 60-beam ultraviolet [[Physics:Nonlinear optics|frequency-tripled]] [[Physics:List of laser types|neodymium glass]] laser, which is capable of delivering 40 kilojoules at up to 60 [[Orders of magnitude (power)#1 terawatt|terawatts]] onto a target less than 1 millimeter in diameter.<ref name="OMEGA LLE">"OMEGA Laser - Laboratory for Laser Energetics" https://www.lle.rochester.edu/index.php/omega-laser-facility-2/</ref> Construction and commissioning of the laser were completed in 1995. OMEGA held the record for highest energy laser (per pulse) from 1999 (after the Nova laser's dismantling) to 2005, when the first 8 beams of the [[Organization:National Ignition Facility|National Ignition Facility]] exceeded OMEGA's output by about 30 kJ in the ultraviolet. The maximum fusion yield of OMEGA so far is about 10<sup>14</sup> neutrons per shot, and it once held the record for highest neutron yield of any inertial confinement fusion device. It has demonstrated at least 5e13 neutrons per shot.<ref>{{cite web |author=S. P  Regan |display-authors=et. al| title=Demonstration of Fuel Hot-Spot Pressure in Excess of 50 Gbar for Direct-Drive, Layered Deuterium-Tritium Implosions on OMEGA | publisher=American Physical Society | date=6 July 2017 | issn=0031-9007 | url=https://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/110482|hdl=1721.1/110482 | access-date=29 June 2023}}</ref>

==OMEGA EP laser==
The four beam OMEGA EP (extended performance) laser system was dedicated on May 16, 2008.<ref name="Timeline LLE 08">"OMEGA EP Laser Dedication" https://www.lle.rochester.edu/media/about/timeline/25_Timeline_2008_09.pdf</ref> Along with four [[Organization:National Ignition Facility|NIF]]-like laser beams, it hosts a new target chamber and a vacuum pulse compression chamber containing large-aperture pulse compression gratings, allowing the laser system to perform short pulse laser shots. The laser is housed inside a 2005 building addition. The combination of the OMEGA and the OMEGA EP laser systems make LLE the world's only fully integrated cryogenic fast ignition experimental facility.

== Organization ==
[[File:UR Laboratory for Laser Energetics main entrance.jpg|thumbnail|left|Main entrance]]
LLE is located at, and operated by the [[Organization:University of Rochester|University of Rochester]].<ref name="NNSA Facility ">{{Cite web |url=http://nnsa.energy.gov/mediaroom/pressreleases/omega |title=Omega Laser Facility Completes Record 25,000 Experiments &#124; National Nuclear Security Administration &#124; (NNSA) |access-date=2018-11-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170520075913/https://nnsa.energy.gov/mediaroom/pressreleases/omega |archive-date=2017-05-20 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Omega and Omega EP are user facilities, open for use by the entire [[Philosophy:Scientific community|scientific community]].<ref name  = "NNSA User">{{cite web|url=http://nnsa.energy.gov/aboutus/ourprograms/defenseprograms/defensescienceuniversityprograms-2|title=Maintaining the Stockpile - Department of Energy|website=nnsa.energy.gov}}</ref>

LLE's principal sponsor is the Department of Energy/[[Physics:National Nuclear Security Administration|National Nuclear Security Administration]] (DOE/NNSA) [http://nnsa.energy.gov/aboutus/ourprograms/defenseprograms Office of Defense Programs] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150420215555/http://nnsa.energy.gov/aboutus/ourprograms/defenseprograms |date=2015-04-20 }}, which supports its stockpile stewardship and advanced scientific computing programs.<ref name  = "NNSA User" /><ref name  = "NNSA Facility" />

The Laboratory has a five-fold mission:<ref>{{cite web |last=Energetics |first=University of Rochester - Laboratory for Laser |title=Office of the Director - Laboratory for Laser Energetics |url=https://www.lle.rochester.edu/index.php/about-the-laboratory-for-laser-energetics/organization/#top |website=www.lle.rochester.edu}}</ref>
* To conduct implosion experiments and basic physics experiments in support of the National Inertial Confinement Fusion (ICF) program.
* To develop new laser and materials technologies.
* To provide graduate and undergraduate education in electro-optics, high-power lasers, high-energy-density physics, plasma physics, and nuclear fusion technology.
* To operate the National Laser Users' Facility.
* To conduct research and development in advanced technology related to [[Physics:High energy density physics|high-energy-density phenomena]].

== See also ==
* [[Engineering:HiPER|HiPER]]
* [[Physics:Inertial confinement fusion|Inertial confinement fusion]]
* [[Organization:University of Rochester|University of Rochester]]
* Riccardo Betti
* [[Biography:Gérard Mourou|Gérard Mourou]]
* [[Philosophy:Big Science|Big Science]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.lle.rochester.edu/ Official website]
* [http://www.opticsexcellence.org/ Center for Optics Manufacturing] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040829153938/http://www.opticsexcellence.org/ |date=2004-08-29 }}
* [https://www.lle.rochester.edu/index.php/omega-laser-facility-2/ OMEGA]
* [https://www.lle.rochester.edu/index.php/omega-laser-facility-2/6271-2/ OMEGA EP]
* [https://www.lle.rochester.edu/index.php/about-the-laboratory-for-laser-energetics/omega-laser-facility-users-group/ Omega Laser Facility Users' Group] This users’ guide was created to help users of the Omega Laser Facility propose and carry out experiments at the facility. It has extensive technical details on the facility.
* [http://www.rochester.edu/College/RTC/Craxton.html R. Stephen Craxton] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150419135508/http://www.rochester.edu/College/RTC/Craxton.html |date=2015-04-19 }}

{{fusion experiments}}
{{Solid-state laser}}
{{Lasers}}

[[Category:Inertial confinement fusion research lasers]]
[[Category:University and college laboratories in the United States]]

{{Sourceattribution|Laboratory for Laser Energetics}}