Status of high-power lasers and experiments at ELI-Nuclear Physics, Romania

Abstract

Founded by the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructure (ESFRI), three state-of-art laser-based institutes in Romania, Hungary, and the Czech Republic were commissioned in the Extreme Light Infrastructure (ELI). Construction for the three sites started in 2012 and, as of 2020, all sites are operational. ELI-NP (Extreme Light Infrastructure: Nuclear Physics) is located 10km south of Bucharest in Romania. Its flagship installation is two beams of 10 PW, each providing 230 J output energy at a 23 fs laser pulse width. The capability to provide a 10 PW output was recently demonstrated in a live performance. We were able to show that the 10 PW laser shots can be delivered for 10 minutes at a rate of one shot every minute. A total of 230 Zoom participants worldwide, including Prof G Mourou and Prof D Strickland, the Physics Nobel Laureates in 2018, witnessed this breakthrough demonstration. An early experiment at the 100 TW laser station at ELI-NP has already been completed. We successfully demonstrated an electron acceleration of up to 300 MeV, either resulting in monoenergetic or broadband spectra, depending on the well controllable experimental conditions we set. Operations at the 1 PW and 10 PW experimental stations will start soon. External user access will be tested with the early and commissioning experiments and will be formulated coherently within the framework of the IMPULSE project guided by ELI-DC. Reference Current status and highlights of the ELI-NP program research program, KA Tanaka, K Spohr, D Balabanski, et al., Matter Rad. Extremes, 5, 024402 (2020): doi.10.1063/1.5093535