Due to research conducted by scientists from South Korea and the UK, the power of lasers will increase by one million times

Due to research conducted by scientists from South Korea and the UK, the power of lasers will be able to increase by one million times. The researchers plan to apply this improvement for scientific purposes.

The study was led by representatives of Strathclyde University and the Korea Institute UNIST and GIST. Behind the scenes footage of their work in the journal Nature Photonics. It has been proven that the key to success is to conduct simulations to demonstrate what changes are needed to significantly improve the capability of the device that emits laser pulses.

Based on their analysis, the research team concluded that the breakthrough moment will be to use the plasma density gradient to initiate the photon fusion process. If theoretical results are translated into actual situations, the increase in laser power compared to current results may exceed one million times.

What kind of results are we discussing? I just want to say that the power of the laser used so far - of course, the most powerful laser - is about 10 petawatts. This device is called Vulcan 20-20 and is expected to have a power of 20 petawatt. On the other hand, the upper atmosphere of Earth receives 173 watts of sunlight, of which about one-third of the radiation reaches the surface of our planet.

Powerful lasers can be used for various experiments, such as simulating the conditions inside stars.

As explained by experts, the use of terawatt or petawatt lasers makes it possible to create a new generation of laser plasma accelerators. A sufficiently powerful laser also provides answers to fundamental questions, such as the essence of matter and vacuum. These are just some of the issues covered by the research. Some even talk about conducting experiments at the so-called Schwinger limit, which assumes that light can be converted into matter.

All ideas related to the potential capabilities of this extremely powerful laser will be tested by research team members from the UK and South Korea. According to the representative of Strathclyde University, understanding the nature of matter and vacuum with intensity exceeding 1024 watts per square centimeter is one of the greatest challenges facing modern physics. Thanks to high-energy lasers, it is also possible to simulate the interior of stars and different parts of the solar system.

Source: Laser Net