LULI2000 is a high-power

laser A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word "laser" is an acronym for "light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation". The fi ...

system dedicated to scientific research. It is located in LULI laboratory, at

École Polytechnique École may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing in région Île-de-France * École, Savoi ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. The main application of this type of laser is related to the very high energy fluxes obtained after focusing onto tiny focal spots, from micrometers to hundreds of micrometers in diameter. The interaction between these focused beams and small targets produces very hot plasmas, up to many hundred million degrees, high densities and high pressures. Depending on the laser and target parameters, these laser-generated plasmas may be compared to stars or planet interiors. The main research topics addressed on LULI2000 concern laser inertial fusion and all its physical components, fundamental physics of hot and dense plasmas and its applications in astrophysics and

geophysics Geophysics () is a subject of natural science concerned with the physical processes and physical properties of the Earth and its surrounding space environment, and the use of quantitative methods for their analysis. The term ''geophysics'' so ...

, or the physics and processing of materials. NANO2000, the nanosecond version of LULI2000, consists in two Nd:Glass laser chains, 200 mm in diameter, delivering each 1 kJ in nanosecond pulses at 1.05 μm wavelength. After frequency doubling or tripling, a large part of the energy may be converted to 0.53 μm or 0.35 μm. These beams are then focussed in the middle of a 2 m diameter vacuum chamber where they irradiate targets of different types. The interaction itself and the characteristics of the laser-generated hot plasmas are diagnosed by a whole set of dedicated diagnostics. PICO2000, the adaptation of one NANO2000 laser chain in the picosecond regime, will deliver 200 J in 1 ps at 1.05 μm. LULI2000 will be the most energetic laser facility in Europe coupling nanosecond and picosecond pulses. The fast-igniter scheme for laser inertial fusion will be one of the main topics addressed on this facility, in coordination with future installations such as PETAL and HiPER.HiPER
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References

{{Lasers Inertial confinement fusion research lasers Science and technology in France