Leonardo's new laser technology could lead to breakthroughs in green energy and advanced imaging capabilities

Leonardo Electronics America has installed a new high-energy laser system at the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) Central Laser Facility in Oxfordshire, one of the UK's national scientific research laboratories.

Leonardo provides a new technique for "extreme photonics" research, which will enable scientists and engineers to accelerate the development of research projects with potentially world-changing impacts. Future applications of the technology developed under this research could revolutionize healthcare, enable new forms of green energy, and enhance imaging capabilities.

The newly installed technology, called the High Power Laser Diode System, will be used in the High energy laser amplifier system at the STFC Central Laser Facility (CLF) 's Extreme Photonics and Applications Center (EPAC). It will be used to support world-class British scientific research. Development of the system was conducted by Leonardo Electronics US Inc., a subsidiary of Leonardo, under the direction of the non-departmental public body STFC.

Leonardo Electronics USA is a specialist in laser technology, particularly peak-power diode lasers, which are key components in the field of laser science and applications. The company is unique in being able to offer diode lasers with very peak power (up to over one million watts) in very compact packages. The systems installed at EPAC account for a third of the volume provided by the CLF team.

The unique performance and compactness of the Leonardo system opens the door to a range of practical applications, such as advanced medical imaging and cancer treatment. Lasers can be used to create compact sources of useful beams, such as "very bright" X-rays that penetrate deeper than standard X-rays. These can greatly improve imaging capabilities in industrial and medical applications. In cancer treatment, this novel radiobiological source will provide novel therapies that are more mobile than traditional facilities.

The technology could also play a key role in making it commercially viable to generate green energy from fusion reactions (inertial confinement fusion or ICF). This will build on the success recently demonstrated by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) at the National Ignition Facility (NIF), to which the CLF contributed. For the first time on this planet, it's been shown that in a controlled environment, it's possible to get more energy out of a fusion reaction than it puts in. The hope is that such research could eventually lead to a way to generate nearly unlimited carbon-free energy.

As the centerpiece of laser research, Leonardo is proud to work with scientific organizations and universities around the world to move the field forward.

Source: Laser Net