University of Rochester Receives $18M for New Laser Facility.

The University of Rochester has secured nearly $18 million in funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to design and prototype crucial technologies for EP-OPAL, a new facility dedicated to studying ultrahigh-intensity laser-matter interactions, potentially located at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE). High-intensity lasers have diverse scientific applications, from plasma science to laser-driven nuclear physics, with significant scientific, medical, commercial, and industrial implications. The EP-OPAL project, involving multiple partner institutions, aims to create the world’s most powerful laser system, offering laser pulses with peak power approaching that of the sun, concentrated into a space smaller than a human hair’s cross-section.