High-powered lasers could unlock the potential of fusion power as a clean, safe and virtually limitless energy source and are already integral to many other processes in the medical, industrial and manufacturing industries.

A burgeoning community of laser scientists, including several from the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL), will gather to discuss high-power laser science and technology at the 2024 LaserNetUS Meeting from July 16 to 18, 2024, in Austin, Texas.

LaserNetUS, which the DOE funds, is a consortium of high-power laser facilities at universities and national laboratories across North America that are advancing the frontiers of laser-science research. Member users travel around the country and into Canada to conduct scientific experiments at leading accelerators, beam laboratories and light sources. 

“Our 1,400 members are united by a dedication to advancing high-power laser science and technology,” said Sophia Malko, staff research physicist in high energy density plasmas and inertial fusion energy and communications chair of the annual meeting. “Having dedicated beam time allows users to experience firsthand what you can do with high-powered lasers, opening up new career paths and opportunities.”
 

Contributing to the ‘bold decadal vision’ for commercial fusion energy

While PPPL’s primary focus is on magnetic fusion confinement, which uses magnetic fields to control the heated plasma to produce fusion, several PPPL researchers study inertial confinement fusion, a technique that uses powerful lasers to achieve fusion. This approach attracted widespread attention in December 2022 when the National Ignition Facility at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory achieved ignition by producing more fusion energy than the energy delivered to the fusion target. Since then, the DOE has launched several funding programs to advance the field of high energy density plasmas and inertial fusion energy (IFE). 

PPPL aims to contribute to the growing interest in IFE, and participation in LaserNetUS is part of this objective, said Jon Menard, deputy director for research at PPPL. “The PPPL scientists involved in LaserNetUS are truly invested in advancing this field of study as part of the mission and vision of the Fusion Energy Sciences program at the DOE,” Menard said. “We see all of this as part of contributing to the bold decadal vision to advance commercial fusion energy.”

In addition to Malko, several researchers at PPPL are members of the LaserNetUS community, including Lan Gao, research physicist; Will Fox, research physicist; Frances Kraus, X-ray spectroscopist and staff research physicist; along with several postdoctoral researchers and doctoral students. Together, they work on two to three major experiments per year. “PPPL now has a lot of beam time through the consortium,” Malko said.
 

Opening research and career pathways

LaserNetUS is a maturing organization that grew from the need to accelerate laser science in the U.S. by opening facilities up to new users, Kraus said. “I couldn’t have done my Ph.D. work without access to the Laboratory for Advanced Lasers and Extreme Photonics laser facility at Colorado State University, which became newly possible when LaserNetUS started awarding experiments in 2019," said Kraus.

Now, LaserNetUS not only connects scientists with state-of-the-art lasers for their experiments, but it also builds an interdisciplinary community around laser engineering, plasma diagnostics and advanced data analysis. LaserNetUS’ annual meeting is the perfect entry into the community. The annual meeting has grown each year, funding students to present their work and creating a unique space for scientists to build connections across fields.

This year, the meeting is offering partial travel support for students and postdoctoral researchers interested in attending and presenting. Applications are due by May 6, and both seasoned users and newcomers are welcome.

The meeting will feature a robust technical program and an extensive poster session, facilitating interactive exchanges among attendees in an informal environment. The event will enable discussions on ongoing research projects while fostering new collaborations. Attendees can participate in several social outings in the heart of Austin, including a reception and networking events.

A focus on public-private partnerships 

Similar to last year, the meeting will also feature special sessions reinforcing public-private partnerships. High-power laser technology has found diverse applications in what’s known as “hard tech,” spanning from the semiconductor industry to medical imaging and therapies. 

“By fostering strong connections between the public and private sectors, we can create a healthy ecosystem that promotes talent development and knowledge sharing,” said Chandra Breanne Curry, LaserNetUS coordinator. “This collaborative approach will allow us to push the boundaries of high-power laser science and IFE and explore even more cross-cutting and multidisciplinary applications.”

For Malko, there has never been a better time to join the LaserNetUS community. “Laser science offers far more than what people typically associate with it. There is great potential for use in fusion and so many applications from the medical field to manufacturing. Simply put: High-powered lasers are just very cool.”

Learn more about LaserNetUS and the upcoming annual meeting.