Nuclear

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It is part of a larger complex called the Laser Mégajoule (LMJ), and together they form a unique facility dedicated to extreme physics research.

1. What is it?

PETAL is a high-energy, ultra-short pulse laser. While the main LMJ facility uses 176 laser beams to create high energy over "long" durations (nanoseconds), PETAL provides a single, incredibly intense "short" burst.

• Power: It has reached a peak power of 1.2 Petawatts (one million billion watts). For comparison, this is hundreds of times the power of the entire global electricity grid, but concentrated into a tiny fraction of a second.

• Pulse Duration: The flash lasts only about 0.5 to 10 picoseconds (a picosecond is one-trillionth of a second).

2. Scientific Purpose

The facility allows scientists to recreate the extreme conditions found in the center of stars or giant planets. Key areas of research include:

• Inertial Confinement Fusion: Exploring how to create clean, limitless energy by fusing atoms.

• Laboratory Astrophysics: Simulating supernovae, stellar jets, and magnetic fields to understand how the universe formed.

• Medical Research: Using the laser to accelerate particles for new types of cancer radiotherapy (proton therapy).

• Extreme Matter: Studying "hot dense matter" to see how materials behave under billions of times atmospheric pressure.