Our Program
In the News
Our group is international recognized for the development of advance ultra-high intensity solid state lasers that are used as drivers of table-top X-Ray and Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) lasers. The group demonstrated the first table-top soft x-ray laser. These lasers have made possible systems that can image, pattern, and probe chemical composition at the nanoscale.
We are also investigating the interaction of ultra-high intensity laser beams with matter using one of the world’s most intense lasers, developed in-house. Research on this area encompasses the creation and study of relativistic laser-matter interactions leading to ultra-high energy density plasmas that produce matter at extreme conditions such as encountered in stars, leading to the production of intense bursts of x-rays and fusion neutrons, and the study of physical processes that affect material damage in interference coatings for ultra-high intensity lasers.
Our research is highly interdisciplinary, covering ultrashort pulse laser physics and engineering, optical thin film materials for lasers, and laser material interactions. Our team is part of US and international collaborations, including LaserNet US, a network of the most as the most powerful lasers in the US funded by the US Department of Energy, and the LIGO Collaboration (Laser Interferometer Gravitational Observatory Scientific Collaboration)