The Asterix IV laser in
Prague
Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...
(commonly referred to by the acronym PALS for Prague Asterix Laser System) is a high power photolytically pumped
iodine
Iodine is a chemical element; it has symbol I and atomic number 53. The heaviest of the stable halogens, it exists at standard conditions as a semi-lustrous, non-metallic solid that melts to form a deep violet liquid at , and boils to a vi ...
gas laser capable of producing ~300 to 500 picosecond long pulses of light at the fundamental line of 1.315 micrometres wavelength with a total energy of about 1
kilojoule
The joule ( , or ; symbol: J) is the unit of energy in the International System of Units (SI). In terms of SI base units, one joule corresponds to one kilogram- metre squared per second squared One joule is equal to the amount of work don ...
(or tripled to the
third harmonic at 438
nanometers
330px, Different lengths as in respect to the molecular scale.
The nanometre (international spelling as used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures; SI symbol: nm), or nanometer (American and British English spelling differences#-r ...
with lower pulse energies) and peak powers of around 3 terawatts. There are also two smaller auxiliary beams capable of producing 100 J pulses. One of the research topics is
X-ray
An X-ray (also known in many languages as Röntgen radiation) is a form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength shorter than those of ultraviolet rays and longer than those of gamma rays. Roughly, X-rays have a wavelength ran ...
generation in laser excited plasma.
Asterix IV was originally developed, built and operated at the
Max Planck Institute of Quantum Optics
The Max-Planck-Institute of Quantum Optics (abbreviation: MPQ; ) is a part of the Max Planck Society which operates 87 research facilities in Germany.
The institute is located in Garching, Germany, which in turn is located 10 km north-eas ...
(MPQ) in Garching, Germany. The Laser Plasmas division of Prof. Witkowski operated the laser at MPQ from 1991 until May 1997. In 1999 it was reassembled in Prague and put into operation again on 8 June 2000.
PALS is open to both domestic and foreign researchers.
File:Prague_asterix_laser_system.jpeg, View of the master oscillator and 5 amplifier stages
File:Prague_asterix_laser_system-capacitor_bank.jpeg, Part of capacitor bank
File:Prague_asterix_laser_system-interaction_chamber.jpeg, Interaction chambers
See also
*
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'' originated as an acronym for light amplification by stimulated emission of radi ...
*
List of laser types
This is a list of laser types, their operational wavelengths, and their applications. Thousands of kinds of laser are known, but most of them are used only for specialized research.
Overview
Gas lasers
Chemical lasers
Used as directed-ener ...
References
External links
Laboratory sitePDF datasheet
{{fusion experiments
Nuclear research institutes
Research lasers