NSF OPAL Midscale Research Infrastructure (RI-1) Design and Prototyping Project

ORAL

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: (1) design of the overall NSF OPAL facility; (2) design and prototyping of high-energy, actively cooled laser amplifiers with shot-cycle times of a few minutes; (3) design and prototyping of production and characterization systems for large optics (diffraction gratings and nonlinear optical crystals); and (4) 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.

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Presenters

  • Jonathan Zuegel

    University of Rochester Laboratory for Laser Energetics, University of Rochester

Authors

  • Jonathan Zuegel

    University of Rochester Laboratory for Laser Energetics, University of Rochester

  • Antonino Di Piazza

    Laboratory for Laser Energetics, University of Rochester, University of Rochester

  • Franklin J Dollar

    University of California, Irvine

  • Ani Aprahamian

    University of Notre Dame

  • Eva D Zurek

    State Univ of NY - Buffalo

  • Elizabeth Hill

    University of Rochester Laboratory for Laser Energetics

  • Jonathan Zuegel

    University of Rochester Laboratory for Laser Energetics, University of Rochester