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{{Short description|University of Rochester research center in Brighton, New York}}
{{Redirect|LLE}}
{{more citations needed|date=December 2015}}
{{Infobox laboratory
|name = Laboratory for Laser Energetics
|motto = "A unique national resource"
|logo = Laboratory for Laser Energetics logo blue.svg
|logo_alt = A horizontal line ending in a graphic of a laser point, represented by line segments of varying lengths emitting in all directions from one point. On the left, above and below the horizontal line, it reads "UR" and "LLE" respectively. All elements of the logo are in navy blue.
|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 Rochester, NY 14623-1212
|city = [[Brighton, Monroe County, New York|Brighton, New York]]
|country = [[United States|US]]
|zipcode = 14623
|coordinates = {{Coord|43.113108|-77.632012|region:US_type:edu|display=inline,title}}
|affiliations = [[United States Department of Energy]] [[MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center]] [[State University of New York at Geneseo]] [[University of Nevada, Reno]] [[University of Wisconsin–Madison]]
|operating_agency = [[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 [[University of Rochester]]'s south campus, located in [[Brighton, Monroe County, New York|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)|New York State]] government. The Laser Lab was commissioned to investigate high-energy physics involving the interaction of extremely intense [[laser]] [[radiation]] with matter. Scientific experiments at the facility emphasize [[inertial fusion energy|inertial confinement]], direct drive, laser-induced [[Nuclear fusion|fusion]], fundamental [[plasma physics]] and [[astrophysics]] using the OMEGA Laser Facility. In June 1995, OMEGA became the world's highest-energy [[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 [[Doctor of Philosophy|Ph.D.s]] have been awarded {{asof|2022|lc=y}} for research conducted at the LLE.<ref name="LLE Theses">{{Cite web |title=LLE Theses |url=https://www.lle.rochester.edu/publications/lle-theses/ |access-date=2024-02-15 |website=Laboratory for Laser Energetics |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="Theses from NLUF Research">{{Cite web |title=Theses from NLUF and other External University Student Research |url=https://www.lle.rochester.edu/publications/theses-from-nluf-and-other-external-university-student-research/ |access-date=2024-02-15 |website=Laboratory for Laser Energetics |language=en-US}}</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">{{Cite web |title=High School Reports |url=https://www.lle.rochester.edu/publications/high-school-reports/ |access-date=2024-02-15 |website=Laboratory for Laser Energetics |language=en-US}}</ref>

==History==
[[File:Laboratory for Laser Energetics, RIT NandE Vol12Num35 1980 Oct23 Complete.jpg|thumb|right|The OMEGA laser system in 1986]]
The LLE was founded on the [[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">{{Cite web |title=LLE Timeline Plaques |url=https://www.lle.rochester.edu/timeline-old/ |access-date=2024-02-15 |website=Laboratory for Laser Energetics |language=en-US}}</ref> Working with outside companies such as [[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, [[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 | Science |access-date=2014-08-24 |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 [[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 [[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 [[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 (OMEGA EP) system was opened.

''[[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 surgery|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==
[[File:U.S. Department of Energy - Science - 282 022 002 (16502292185).jpg|left|thumb|View inside the Omega target chamber at the moment of system operation.]]
The OMEGA laser is a laser device at the LLE built to perform direct-drive [[inertial confinement fusion]] experiments. It is a 60-beam ultraviolet [[nonlinear optics|frequency-tripled]] [[list of laser types|neodymium glass]] laser, which is capable of delivering 40 [[kilojoule]]s at up to 60 [[orders of magnitude (power)#1 terawatt|terawatts]], making it one of the most powerful and highest energy lasers in the world. The laser light can be focused onto a spherical target less than 1 millimeter in diameter<ref name="OMEGA LLE">{{Cite web |title=Omega Laser Facility |url=https://www.lle.rochester.edu/omega-laser-facility-2/ |access-date=2024-02-15 |website=Laboratory for Laser Energetics |language=en-US}}</ref> suspended in a spherical vacuum chamber 3.3 meters in diameter.<ref name="OMEGAuserguide">{{Cite report |publisher=Laboratory for Laser Energetics |title=Omega Facility Users' Guide |date=2014 |chapter=2. OMEGA Laser System |url=https://www.lle.rochester.edu/about-the-laboratory-for-laser-energetics/nluf/ |chapter-url=https://www.lle.rochester.edu/media/about/documents/UsersGuide/02_UsersGuide.pdf |access-date=2024-04-04 }}</ref>

Initial construction and commissioning of the laser were completed in 1980 under a 21 million USD contract between the University of Rochester and the US Department of Energy. At the time, it was a 24-beam 15 terawatt system.<ref>{{cite news |author= |date=June 24, 1980 |title=New laser unit called answer to power crunch |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8NBKAAAAIBAJ&pg=PA1 |access-date=April 4, 2024 |work=Schenectady Gazette |location=Rochester, NY |page=3 }}</ref> It was upgraded between 1990 and 1995 for 61 million USD into the 60-beam system that exists today.<ref name="OMEGAuserguide" /> 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 [[National Ignition Facility]] exceeded OMEGA's output by about 30 kJ in the ultraviolet.

OMEGA is used for direct-drive inertial confinement fusion experiments, in which the lasers compress a target filled with fusion fuel, forming a dense hot region at the center in which [[nuclear fusion]] reactions occur. OMEGA once held the record for highest neutron yield of any inertial confinement fusion device.{{cn|date=April 2024}} It has demonstrated yields of over 5×1013 reactions per implosion, with internal pressures of over 50 gigabars.<ref>{{cite journal |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 |journal=Physical Review Letters | volume=117 | article-number=025001 | publisher=American Physical Society | date=6 July 2016 |issue=2 | doi=10.1103/PhysRevLett.117.025001 |pmid=27447511 |bibcode=2016PhRvL.117b5001R | issn=0031-9007 | url=https://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/110482|hdl=1721.1/110482 | access-date=29 June 2023| hdl-access=free }}</ref>

==OMEGA EP laser==
The OMEGA EP (extended performance) laser system is an independently operable laser device and extension to OMEGA dedicated on May 16, 2008 with the purpose of studying advanced ignition techniques.<ref name="Timeline LLE 08">"OMEGA EP Laser Dedication" https://www.lle.rochester.edu/media/about/timeline/25_Timeline_2008_09.pdf</ref>
It hosts four [[National Ignition Facility|NIF]]-like laser beams, each capable of delivering up to 1.6 kilojoules of energy, as well as a new target chamber. Two of the beams possess pulse compression gratings allowing for pulses as short as 1 picosecond.<ref>{{cite conference |first1=L. J. |last1=Waxer |first2=M. J. |last2=Guardalben |first3=J. H. |last3=Kelly |first4=B. E. |last4=Krushwitz |first5=J. |last5=Qiao |first6=I. A. |last6=Begishev |title=The OMEGA EP high-energy, short-pulse laser system |conference=Conference on Lasers and Electro-Optics |location=San Jose, CA, USA |date=2008 |isbn=978-1-55752-859-9 |url=https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/4572355}}</ref>
The laser is housed inside a 2005 building addition.

While OMEGA EP normally operates separately from OMEGA, its two short-pulse beams can also be combined and directed into the OMEGA target chamber, in addition to OMEGA's 60 existing beams. The high power of these beams combined with their ability to be independently timed enables integrated [[Inertial confinement fusion#fast ignition|fast-ignition]] experiments, in which the OMEGA laser compresses a spherical target full of fusion fuel and then OMEGA EP drives a beam of electrons into its center, kick-starting [[burning plasma|thermonuclear burn]]. The combination of the OMEGA and the OMEGA EP laser systems makes LLE the world's only fully integrated cryogenic fast ignition experimental facility.<ref>{{cite journal |first1=C. |last1=Stoeckl |first2=K. S. |last2=Anderson |first3=R. |last3=Betti |first4=T. R. |last4=Boehly |first5=J. A. |last5=Delettrez |first6=J. A. |last6=Frenje |title=Fast-ignition target design and experimental-concept validation on OMEGA |journal=Plasma Phys. Control. Fusion |volume=50 |article-number=124044 |date=2008 |issue=12 |doi=10.1088/0741-3335/50/12/124044 |bibcode=2008PPCF...50l4044S }}</ref>

== Organization ==
[[File:UR Laboratory for Laser Energetics main entrance.jpg|thumbnail|left|West entrance of the Laboratory for Laser Energetics]]
LLE is located at, and operated by the [[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 | National Nuclear Security Administration | (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 }}</ref> OMEGA and OMEGA EP are user facilities, open for use by the entire [[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|access-date=2015-05-02|archive-date=2015-09-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906193315/http://nnsa.energy.gov/aboutus/ourprograms/defenseprograms/defensescienceuniversityprograms-2}}</ref>

LLE's principal sponsor is the [[United States Department of Energy|Department of Energy]]/[[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 [[high energy density physics|high-energy-density phenomena]].

== See also ==
* [[HiPER]]
* [[Riccardo Betti]]
* [[Gérard Mourou]]
* [[Big Science]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* [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}}
{{University of Rochester}}
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[[Category:University of Rochester]]
[[Category:Inertial confinement fusion research lasers]]
[[Category:1970 establishments in New York (state)]]
[[Category:University and college laboratories in the United States]]

Laboratory for Laser Energetics - Revision history

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