How to achieve the hottest, densest place on Earth using large scale LASERS

Speaker: Colin Danson CPhys FInstP, International Advisor on Laser Development

Large scale lasers are used to create temperatures and densities found only at the centre of stars. These conditions can only be achieved on a sub-millimetre scale target at the focus of the ultra-high power laser beams.

This talk will highlight the development of these systems since the invention of Chirped Pulse Amplification technique, by Donna Strickland and Gerard Mourou, who were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2018.

About the Speaker

Colin Danson has spent his long career designing, building and operating some of the most powerful lasers in the world. He has split his career working at the STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory and AWE Nuclear Security Technologies, in the academic and defence sectors respectively. These are home to the VULCAN and Orion lasers where he led teams in their construction and development. He is an international advisor on laser development and strategies for their construction and operation. He is also the Editor in Chief of the journal ‘High Power Lasers Science and Engineering’.

Please register for this talk as it helps with the rooming and refreshment arrangements and allows us to contact you should there be any changes to the talk details.

Tea and coffee will be available but please arrive early. Talks start at 7.30 pm, followed by Q&A and finishing by 9 pm.

This talk is co-sponsored by the University of Worcester, School of Science and the Environment.