Dubbed the biggest and most powerful laser, the United Kingdom (UK) is building a laser that will be located in Oxfordshire. The project will cost £85m and funding comes in new funding for the technology. The laser will be billion times brighter than the brightest sunlight on earth.
Powerful weapon created in the United Kingdom (UK)
Sky News reports that the world’s most powerful laser will be built in Oxfordshire, thanks to the funding from the UK government. According to scientists, the aim is to develop the technology which will be a “million, billion, billion times brighter than the brightest sunlight” in the world.
It is thought the technology will have practical applications in nuclear fusion, renewable energy and batteries.
The most powerful laser currently at the Central Laser Facility in Oxfordshire is the Vulcan, which is used in plasma physics.
The Vulcan 20-20 will have a 20-fold increase in power with eight additional beams, making it the strongest laser in the world.
A single pulse from the laser will deliver more power than the entire National Grid, in a blast lasting a trillionth of a second on a minuscule target.
Construction of the laser in the UK
The British publication has it that the construction of the laser will need six years to complete and will create a number of jobs in the science sector including for designers, engineers and technicians.
Funders react to the laser project in the UK
On behalf of the funders, Professor Mark Thomson, executive chair of the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), is hoping for more discoveries out of this laser facility.
“The Central Laser Facility has been a driving force behind discoveries that have advanced our understanding of diverse areas from the fundamental properties of matter under extreme conditions to the formation of stars and planets,” he said.
Echoing Thomson’s sentiments is Professor John Collier who is the director of the Central Laser Facility and he stated: “Vulcan has been the flagship laser at CLF for many years, and widely recognised internationally as a pioneering facility.
“Over the past 40 years, it has made important contributions to plasma physics research and hundreds of PhD students have been trained at the facility.
“It is timely for Vulcan to undergo its next major upgrade, making it ready to serve a new generation of scientists, ensuring the UK retains its leadership role in this field.”
The laser facility to help the Vulcan
Optics.org has it that the Vulcan has been oversubscribed with applications since opening its doors in 1997, which the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) – body says this demonstrates the high-level of scientific need for a next-generation UK laser facility.
“The Vulcan 20-20 laser will help us better understand various scientific areas, from astrophysical phenomena like supernovae and solar flares to the potential of laser fusion as a clean energy source,” noted UKRI.
“Planned experiments include creating matter-antimatter pairs using strong electromagnetic fields, usually only found in space, and studying a new particle acceleration method for potential ion radiotherapy treatments to treat cancer.”
Meanwhile, the existing Vulcan laser represented the “state-of-the-art” in high-power lasers when it was first built, and other facilities – notably the various sources at the Extreme Light Infrastructure (ELI) sites in eastern Europe.
“Both experimental areas will have new interaction chambers capable of fielding a new suite of plasma diagnostics. Located between the two experimental areas will be a new compressor area which will be used to compress the 20 PW pulses that are generated on the second floor,” concluded UKRI.
According to the media release, this multi-million-pound project is set to create a number of new jobs for scientists at different stages of their careers, as well as for designers, engineers, and technicians.