Thursdays 4:15–5:30 p.m.
Reception 3:45–4:15 p.m.

October 17

Miles to Meters – Can Laser-driven accelerators supplant large-scale facilities?

Manuel Hegelich,, CEO of TAU Systems Inc., Associate Professor, University of Texas at Austin

Recent years have seen significant advances in laser-driven accelerator systems in terms of reliability and reproducibility as well as in terms of bunch energy, charge and emittance. At UT Austin we have investigated and developed the underlying scientific principles. At TAU Systems, Inc., we aim to integrate those advances into a single system, allowing a transition from the laboratory to the market. We will present recent results on laser-driven particle acceleration and our current plans to utilize such laser systems to generate high-energy electron beams as drivers for table-top synchrotron-like x-ray sources, compact gamma-ray and neutron sources and even compact EUV/X free-electron laser systems. These systems can drive applications in semiconductor R&D and metrology, medical and material science applications as well as fundamental and applied nuclear physics, chemistry, biology and pharmacology. We will show recent advances in wakefield target technology, demonstrating for the first time > 10 GeV electrons from a laser wakefield accelerator and how this enables laser-driven XFELs, as well as recent progress on smaller, compact high repetition rate systems and a laser-based light source service center.

Host: Genady Shvets

About the speaker: B. M. Hegelich is the founder and CEO of TAU Systems Inc., a Deep Tech company based in Austin, Texas, that develops and commercializes laser-driver particle accelerators and EUV/x-ray light sources for semiconductor-, battery- and medical applications. He is a professor at the University of Texas at Austin, where he leads the research group for Relativistic Quantum Photonics, one of the pioneers of laser particle acceleration. His research includes advanced particle and x-ray sources, high-power lasers, nuclear fusion, and quantum effects in intense fields. Dr. Hegelich led research groups at Los Alamos National Laboratory, South Korea’s Center for Relativistic Laser Science, and was appointed Visiting Professor and Fellow at the Center for Advanced studies at the LMU München. Dr. Hegelich received his B.S. degrees from University of Siegen and Napier University Edinburgh, his M.S. degree from the University of Göttingen, and his Ph.D. from LMU München and the Max-Planck-Institute for Quantum Optics. His research groups hold the records for the highest electron and ion energies generated with a laser.

Location: 700 Clark Hall

October 24

Inertial Fusion Energy—Consortium On Laser Plasma Instability Research

Dustin H. Froula, Director of the IFE-Consortium on LPI Research at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics, Director of the Plasma & Ultrafast Laser Science & Engineering Division, 
Laboratory for Laser Energetics
, University of Rochester

The recent demonstration of fusion ignition at the National Ignition Facility has opened the door for an inertial fusion energy (IFE) program that would bring IFE power to the world. Direct-drive fusion is the most straight-forward concept for IFE, with its relatively simple target designs, open geometry, and significant potential for generating efficient robust ignition. Expanding the inertial fusion design space to include robust high-gain implosions requires further control of laser-plasma instabilities. Current simulations suggest that fractional laser bandwidths of ~2% could mitigate laser plasma instabilities at IFE plasma conditions and the Fourth Generation Laser for Ultrabroadband Experiments laser at the University of Rochester’s Laboratory for Laser Energetics provides a transformative opportunity to experimentally demonstrate these benefits, which would illuminate a clear direction to an IFE driver. This research couples state-of-the-art laser technologies with advanced laser-plasma instability modeling and experiments guided by experimentally tested hydrodynamic simulations to provide the scientific and technological underpinning for a high-bandwidth direct-drive IFE system. Furthermore, IFE-COLoR is part of the IFE Ecosystem that is advancing IFE through a coordinated national effort that includes national collaboration, advocacy and outreach.

Host: Genady Shvets

About the speaker: Professor Dustin Froula received his Ph.D. degree in Physics from the University of California, Davis in 2002. After working as a research scientist at the National Ignition Facility Inertial Confinement Fusion Directorate at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (2002–2010), he spent a year on sabbatical at the University of California, Los Angeles where he completed the book, Plasma Scattering of Electromagnetic Radiation: Theory and Measurement Techniques. He then joined the research staff at the Laboratory for Laser Energetics as a Senior Scientist before becoming the Plasma and Ultrafast Physics Group Leader in 2011, and the Director of Plasma & Ultrafast Laser Science & Engineering in 2021. He is a full Professor of Physics (research) in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Rochester. In 2007, he received the Department of Energy’s Outstanding Mentor Award for his work with undergraduate and graduate students. He was selected as a fellow of the American Physical Society in 2017. In 2019 he was awarded the John Dawson Award for Excellence in Plasma Physics Research and he received the Ernest Orlando Lawrence Award in fusion and plasma sciences in 2020, “For seminal and creative contributions in fundamental laser-matter interaction physics, and laser-driven plasma accelerators that have significantly advanced the DOE’s mission, including pioneering spatiotemporal pulse shaping techniques, focused laser–plasma instability research, and novel high-resolution Thomson scattering methods.”

Location: 700 Clark Hall